Monster
by Outis aka nobody
Summary: My first story. The team meet a difficult foe and tension rise. Then Rev goes missing and Tech evaluates his relationship and Rev sees that things are not always black and white. A/N dispite what the three genres say there is more to this story. R&R okay.
1. The robot

**A/N: So this is my first story. I encourage you to read and review. Unlike many other authors on this site, I really don't care if you flame my story, so bring it on. By the way, this story (as the rating may entail) will get…intense, as in violence. But on the other hand there will be NO swearing in my stores (unless you consider words like dame, hell, or bastard offensive, that's as far as I plan on going), also it will be (in my opinion) well balanced with humor, drama, hurt, and comfort (mostly stemming from the TechxRev relationship). All right that's it. Now to the story_. _**

_**Legal stuff: I do not own any LU characters. They belong to the WB.**_

**Monster**

It was an average day at the Loonatic tower. It was around noon and everybody was doing his or her favorite hobbies…for the most part. Lexi was listening to some music and reading a magazine, Duck was watching the news (mostly thou, he was waiting for the weather), Rev was playing a game of air hockey against him self wile Slam looked on, and Ace was meditating. Tech was also meditating (or at least attempting to) with Ace. This occurred only because of Ace pointing out that he seemed had stressed lately. Then after another twenty minuets of pressing the issue, Tech agreed.

He was, in fact, stressed. He was feeling this way because it had been a very demanding few days. As the resident inventor/genius/fix-it man it was his job to, not only invent new things, but also keep his old creations in working order. He usually did not mind this job, mostly because it was his favorite hobby. But just recently: he had to create three new wrist communicators from scratch, all six Zoomatrixes had been rendered inoperable for various reasons, and the Gluco-Gel 9000 suffered (or rather Tech suffered from) a catastrophic malfunction wile tying to apprehend a fleeing criminal. He had shot the weapon only to have sparks start to fly from it and moments later the weapon exploded , encasing Tech in a pile of sky blue sludge. He was stressed, not only because of the heavy work load, but also because he still felt a twinge of remorse and even pain when ever one of his inventions, one of his **babies**, was damaged or destroyed. He mostly kept it hidden now (mostly because he was tiered of being raged on over it by the others) but the felling was still there.

He was finding it difficult to reach the state of calm, soothing serenity that he understood to be the ultimate goal of meditation. He was being distracted by all the other things going on in the room. With the T.V., Lexi's music, and Rev's game (it did not help that Rev not only played both sides of the arena, he also took it upon himself to add the commentary for the game) he was beginning to think it was impossible. However that opinion soon changed when he peeked over at Ace and saw that he looked to be in the perfect state of meditation. _Of coarse he was. _Tech thought. _He was an experienced and seasoned martial artist. He dose this sort of thing all the time. Well…lets give this one more try. _He thought rather tiredly. After all, there were many things he was, but Tech E. Coyote was not a quitter. So he once again closed his eyes and concentrated on blocking out the noise. Then for one brief moment he did it. He finally accomplished his goal of relaxing and letting go of the stress he was plagued with. This one glorious moment of accomplishment was cut short when suddenly the towers alarm went off. The sudden jolt from peace and quiet to the loud and obnoxious ringing of the "incoming call" signal was so sudden that it caused Tech to fall off the platform onto his back. He opened his eyes and saw Ace staring down at him.

"Well, are you coming?" Ace asked with is trademark cocky smile and snarky tone. He then stuck out his hand to help his friend.

Tech could only sigh and say with smirk "Yah chief, I'm coming." He then reached out and took the rabbit's hand and was pulled up.

"So were ya able ta get t'a hang of it?" Ace asked as the two walked to the meeting room.

"Yes, for a short time any way. Although I can't help but wonder if it might be easier to try it some where else. Some where away from the… **distractions**." Tech said the last part to make sure nobody was offended. Ace new exactly what he was talking about.

"Well maybe. I just like all the noise around me to tell the truth." Tech gave him a strange look. "It's like when people listen to music wile they read. Your not really paying attention to the music, it just acts like white noise, you know. It's kinda soothing."

"There is nothing **soothing **about listening to Rev talk about beating himself at air hockey." Tech commented rather dryly.

"Hey-I-heard-that! I-don't-see-what-you-all-find-so-annoying-about-the-way-I-talk-just-because-I-speak-at-a-faster-rate-than-most-people-dosent-mean-"

"Thank you for proving my point." Tech cut in on Revs' tirade with this derisive comment. Rev simply turned his beak up and looked away in a dramatic fashion. _Why dose he allways have to say that stuff. I expect it from Duck but not Tech._Rev mentally pondered the question he often found himself asking. He and Tech were close, of that there was no doubt. So why did Tech have to make comments like that at his expense? He had never had the courage to face the coyote about it. They were all finally assembled in the meeting room and Zadavia was already waiting.

"Greatings Loonatics. There is a problem."

"Of course there is. It's not like you ever call just to say 'Hi'." Duck rudely interrupted as he sat in his chair with his feet up.

"As you were saying Zadavia." Ace said as he gave Duck a death glare. Seeing this Duck simply shrugged and continued to kick back.

"As I was saying…" she continued "There is a robotic machine that is attacking a bank in down town Acmetropolis. It is not known Who may have made it. Never the less. It must be stopped." She finished in a firm tone.

"Don't worry Zadavia. You can count on us ta get da job done." Ace said in an equally confident and forcefull tone.

"I know you won't let me down. Good luck. Zadavia out." And with that her hologram faded.

"Well gang, you heard da boss lady. Lets jet!" Ace stated and they all took off for the hanger.

They were able to reach the bank in a short time thanks to their jet packs. The six heroes landed outside the indicated bank. But everything was surprisingly calm for a crime scene.

"Is-this-the-right-place-cause-it-doesn't-look-like-anything-is-wrong-here-so-" just then a large ATM machine came crashing thru one of the windows and landed in front of the heroes.

"Well I'd be surprised if this wasn't the place." Tech said

"Right. Lets go check it out." Ace ordered and so they all moved into the building. They saw a lot of destruction. The place was trashed for sure. What worried every one was that they could not see the cause of all the destruction.

After looking around for a short time in silence Duck finally stated exasperated "Well where is this bucked of bolts any way?" Just as he said this the wall behind him looked as if it was blown up as small pieces of debris and a large quantity of dust flew forward. Duck gulped hard and slowly turned around only to be greeted with the sight of the robot. It was imposing to say the least. It had to be at least 8ft tall and 4 tons. It suddenly lurched forward and Duck was forced to 'quack' away to avoid being trampled by the metal behemoth.

"All right tin man it's time you got oiled." said Ace taking a battle stance. (**A/N:I know I know that sucked, sorry)**

The robot turned its large, glowing red eyes toward the bunny. Then it began to move toward him, making the ground tremble slightly with each step. It was at this point that all the Loonatics went into action. Ace and Lexi started with a combined attack (Ace with his eye lasers and Lexi with her brain blast) but they seemed to have no affect on it. It just kept marching forward ominously. Then Slam took his turn. He charged up his tornado and charged at it. To every ones surprise, the robot simply grabbed both the devils arms and effortlessly launched him into the wall. Next Duck gave it a shot, literally. He began to throw several 'eggs' at the robot only to have them splatter against its body than slide off harmlessly.

"Boy. That's some tinker toy." Ace couldn't help but be impressed. His team was giving it they're all and still hadn't made a dent on the thing. Now Tech seemed to be the last hope of stoping this metal menace (Rev had already zoomed all around the bot and discovered that there was no way to dismantle it in the way he usually did with electronic enemies). Tech held up his hands and they along with his eyes started to glow green. Then green energy engulfed the bot. Unfortunately it did not do any thing to stop it. Then Tech had another idea. If he could not affect the robot directly then he could at least slow it down. So he began throwing metal objects at it. Pens, computers, tables, doors, and all manner of metallic debris came flying at the bot. But they all ether bounced harmlessly of its body, or were smashed by the force of the throw and the firmness of the robots 'skin'. _Wow. This thing looks a little ridicules but it sure is impressive. _Tech thought. It did look a little out of place. It had a cylindrical body, arms, and legs. The head was more conical in shape. To be honest it looked like a prop from a bad sci-fi movie from the 1950's.

Then to every ones surprise and confusion, the vandal robot proceeded to simply walk out the door and fly away using rockets hidden in it's feet (which was apperently it's origonal plan).

"What the heck? Where is it going?" Duck asked.

"Rev! Track it." Ace commanded his teammate. Rev put his hands on his head and his eyes started to glow red.

"Sorry-Ace. I-can't-get-a-lock-on-it-it's-just-gone-nowhere-like-poof-vanish-off-the-face-of-the-earth."

"Well that's strange." Tech said as he had his hand on his chin in thought.

"Well maybe we wont see it again." Lexi tried to put a happy face on the situation.

"I'm afraid that's not very likely. I'm not sure who could have build such an advanced robot. I'm also not sure what its mission was other than pure destruction, but I think were going to see that thing a lot in the near future." Tech stated grimly. They all stared in the direction that the robot had flown off. The sun slowly set behind them.

"Well this is going to be soooooo much fun." Duck couldn't help but blurt out. Totally ruining the mood.

TBC

**Well that's the first chapter. Was it good? Tell me. Please. Chapter two should be about as long, maybe shorter. Also it will be up soon.**


	2. The fall out

**Ch2 already. So lets go**

I do not own the characters in this story blablablabla except for the ones I create. They are mine.

And so it went on for the next week in that same fashion. The robot would show up at a place, smash it up, and then leave when the loonatics showed up. It didn't make any sense. First the robot's targets didn't seem to have anything in common with each other (on the first day it was a bank, then a school, then a factory that makes pillows and comforters, on the third occasion it was a privet residence of a middle class family). If there was a connection then they could not see it. The second baffling part was what the robot did when it got to its target. Smash, bash, and destroy was the name of its game. It was a miracle nobody had been hurt. The situation was made worst by the fact that it would attack at any time, day or night. This meant that the team had to stay on an almost constant state of alert and readiness. This along with the confusion and constant failure in stopping the bot led to flaring tempers among the team. They began lashing out at each other and arguing constantly (except Rev and Tech, they remained silent mostly). The only achievement they had was they had knocked off the robots head in the third attack. Sadly even this did not stop it from getting away and showing up only a few hours later with a brand new head. It had, however, given Tech a chance to study the bot's internal workings. This led him to come to the conclusion that the best way to stop the automaton was to use a type of 'flash-bang' like device to confuse its sensors and hopefully shut it down. He was currently working on it but was having…difficulties.

It was at this time that Rev decided to pay his best friend a visit. He had been taking the brunt of most of the abuse for whatever reason and was hoping to find some comfort in the genius coyote. He walked into the lab and saw Tech hunched over a table in the middle of the room.

"Hey-ya-Tech-how-are-you-doing-I-just-came-in-to-see-what-you-are-doing-is-that-your-new-invention?" He blurted out all in one breath. Tech only sighed. He was not in the mood for this.

Tech may have been in the worst mood of everybody except he was a lot better at not showing it. He had (in his mind) a right to be grouchy. All of his inventions that he had used against the robot had not only failed, but also hade been destroyed by the robot. This angered him greatly. He saw every one as a personal failure. Now he was having trouble even **building **an invention. First he was unable to make all the components fit in a container that was compact, lightweight, and relatively easy to look at. Then once he had gotten over that hurdle he had to change the formula numerous times to get the desired effect (a task he had yet to accomplish). Now the triggering device was not working out properly, and to top it all off, he could not even think of a **NAME **for it.

"Hello Rev." he said with a lack of enthusiasm that showed he was not happy to see the roadrunner. Rev proceeded to speed over to where Tech was sitting and continue his rapid verbal onslaught.

"So-your-working-on-that-grenade-thing-huh-you've-been-working-on-it-for-along-time-now-not-that-I'm-saying-there's-anything-wrong-with-that-it's-like-you-always-say-'you-can't-rush-perfection'-and-I-suppose-your-right-you-wouldn't-want-one-of-you-inventions-blowing-up-in-your-face-not-that-they-never-blow-up-but-that's-not-to-say-it's-your-fault-it-"

"That's enough Rev!" Tech almost shouted with no small amount of venom in his voice as he tried in vain to focus on his work.

"So…" Rev began a little deterred "I-guess-you-have-been-having-trouble-it-looks-like-the-trigger-is-short-circuiting-maybe-if-you-use-a-more-traditional-design-it-might-work-better-so-"

"THAT'S IT! Rev I don't need **YOUR** help so just be quiet." Tech finally exploded as he stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. They both stood there in shocked silence. Then Tech made eye contact with the bird. He saw the hurt and the glassy shine that inevitably would lead to tears. He felt his heart lurch with remorse. "Rev…" he tried to remedy the situation but at that point Rev had already sped out of the room. Tech just sighed and rubbed his eyes. Then he looked at the things lying on the table. He suddenly felt a surge of guilt and disgust with him self. _How could I do that to him? He just wanted to help. He didn't do anything to deserve that._ He then was again filled with anger so he shouted and brushed everything off the table onto the floor. Unfortunately he forgot that there was an assortment of chemicals in tubes on the table. When they were knocked on to the floor the wrong chemicals were mixed together and resulted in an explosion. Fortunately Tech had used chemicals that would not result in the type off fiery and dangerous reaction that would be expected. It was, however, still volatile enough to send him into the opposite wall. He slid down to a sitting position on the floor. He had only enough time to mutter weakly "oops" before he blacked out.

Rev might have heard the explosion (it only took place about two of three minutes after he left the lab) but he had already decided he didn't want to be in the tower any more. So he went into his room took off his uniform, put on some normal cloths, write a note to explain where he was, and speed out of the building all in under two minutes. So he did not hear the explosion.

The others, however, did, and despite their foul moods they were still concerned about their friend. So they all went running into Tech's lab ready to deal with anything.

"Tech you ok? What was that explosion all about?" Ace asked as he scanned around for danger (not duck but actuall danger, duck was also standing behind him). Then he spotted Tech against the wall and he and slam went over and helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright Tech?" Lexi asked with concern.

"gglarbblgghha happened?" Slam asked in his own strange way.

"I'm fine." Tech said as he rubbed his head. "It was just an accident." He added the last part as he moved toward the door.

"Hey. Where you going?" Duck asked a little crossly.

"I have to do something." He said without even turning around, and then walked out the door. The others looked at each other with confusion and concern. Then Ace just shrugged and walked out as well, and the others followed suit.

Mean wile Tech was walking to where he hoped Rev was. When he reached his room however he found the note. It was short and devastating. It read…

**Going to see my family**

**Not sure when I'll be back**

**not that you care**

The last part hurt the most because he knew it was directed mostly at him. _He thinks I don't care about him? Well I guess I can see why_ he thought as he shook his head and stared at the ground. Then he felt tears start to sting his eyes as he thought about what he had done.

Little did he know the series of events he had just started.

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Rev was speeding down the sidewalk as he made his way to his parent's house out in the desert. _Tech, how could he say that?_ he thought (mostly with sadness but still some anger). _AllI wanted to do was help but noooo. The genius never needs help with anything. _He continued bitterly. He was mad at every one of them for being such jerks. _Maybe I should not have left. What if they need me to fight the robot?_ the more forgiving part of his mind thought. _No. The robot already attacked today and besides I haven't been able to help before so why would the next time be any different. _He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice a man in an ally ahead of him peek out. He then toke a metal pole, put in the street then connected a cable from that pole to another in the ally. He then simply waited until Rev had inadvertently ran into it. Once he had made contact with the cable it had wrapped itself around Rev's waist and chest. It then began to crackle with electrical energy. "Uh oh." was all he could say as the cable gave a large electric shock witch sent him tumbling to the ground (he tumbled and slid for several feet before he came to a full stop laying on his stomach). He was stunned and quickly realized that he could not feel his body. Every thing under his chin felt as if it was just…gone.

The man emerged from the ally and began walking over to the downed hero. He whistled as he sauntered over wile carrying a large burlap sack over his shoulder. When he reached Rev he kicked over his body and saw his eyes darting around frantically before settling on him.

"Well, you're still conscious. That's impressive." He said with a small smile. Rev's vision was blurred but just the sound of the mans voice was enough to tell him he was in trouble.

"Well let's go." He said as he picked Rev up and put him in the bag. Rev was unable to protest (he found he could not even talk). The kidnapper then began walking down the street with his captured quarry. "That was almost to easy." He joked to himself.

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**There you go. Ch2. Nice right? Next one coming** **soon. Remember to R&R.**


	3. The arrival

**Ch3. No announcements just story.**

_**All LU characters belong to the WB. Unless there the ones I made (obviously).**_

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The kidnapper walked down the street with his new captive safely in a sack that was slung over his shoulder. He was in the industrial distract and it was already dark out so the streets were empty.

"You know, this wasn't my idea." He began to talk to the muted Rev, "I honestly didn't think this was going to work. Are you sure you're a super hero?" he joked confidently. His voice was hard and stern. There was no kindness to be found in it. Even now when he was joking it was still fierce and harsh. "Ah. Here we are. Home sweet home. Maybe not so sweet for you thou." He added the last part as an after thought.

Rev was scared, obviously, but not just because of his immediate problems. So many questions flooded his mind. _What is this guy going to do with me? Am I going to get out alive? Why can't I move? Where am I? _The last question disturbed him the most. Ever since he got his powers he always knew exactly where he was. Now, however, he was unable to access his GPS powers for some reason.

Then he felt himself stop. He was then dumped out of the sack onto a concrete floor. He landed on his back hard. Rev was finally able to get a look at him. He was tall and stocky. _Something like 6'5 250lbs _Rev thought. He was wearing a gray jacket, white shirt, and black slacks.

"Don't move." The kidnaper said with a much darker tone and an unmistakable edge in his voice. Then he staked off out of Rev's line of sight. _What's got him in such a bad mood all of a sudden? He wasn't exactly 'likable' before but now he's just plain scary._ He looked around (as best he could with a paralyzed neck) at this building. At first glance he saw that the building only had fore walls and a very high ceiling. It was also very large. He was able to surmise that it was some kind of warehouse. These observations were cut short as he heard some voices coming toward him.

"So you got the subject?" a new voice said.

"Yes doctor." The kidnaper replied

_Doctor? Subject? THAT doesn't sound good. _Rev thought nervously.

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**So that's it. Shorter to build suspense. **


	4. The introduction

**Cp4. A/N: Some announcement: sorry I got this up kinda late (well late for me). School+ Monty Python Live at The Hollywood Bowl= little time to write. Second, I GOT A REVIEW!!!! You can't imagine the joy I feel in my heart right now. So I want to say thanks specifically to Adregalus for being my first (and hopefully not my last) reviewer. To the rest of my very fine readers I encourage you to follow this example. Well that's it.**

**_I do not own any characters except for the ones I made. The rest belong…and so on and so forth. And now for something completely different (bonus points if you know where that's from)._**

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"Oh now this will not do, not do at all. Now Claudius, I specifically asked you to be gentle with the subject, **didn't I**." The doctor said, stressing the last part.

"Yes doctor. Sorry doctor." The kidnaper/Claudius replied in a bored monotone voice as if he had said that statement many times. The doctor then proceeded to walk over to Rev and pick him up (he even took extra care with his long neck). He then moved over to a cot and placed Rev gently there.

"There now. How's that?" he asked with actual compassion. _Or if he is faking it, he is very talented. Ether way, I think I like this guy more than tall, dark, and angry over there._

He was a stark contrast to his henchman. He was short and pudgy. Not quite fat, but certainly not 'in shape'. He had a kind face with hazel eyes and gray/white hair that was combed back nicely. As opposed to Claudius' red wavy hair/short beard combo and cold, piercing black eyes (maybe dark brown would be more accurate). They were also at different ages. Claudius probably wasn't over thirty were as the doctor had to be over fifty.

"Well judging by your silence I can guess that your still paralyzed." He stopped to look over at Claudius. "You increased the voltage of the electro cordial device, didn't you?" (Cordial was intentional).

"I thought I might need more time to get him here, doctor." Claudius replied once again in the same dull voice but added a small shrug.

"Oh I'm sure that's what it was, yes." He turned to face Rev and mumbled, more to himself that to Rev "A few more volts and you'd be dead. Must have been painful." He said this with a mix of sadness and worry. "Well no matter it should be wearing off soon enough. Do you fell anything yet?"

Rev was actually able to node his head slightly.

"Good. Now, what to do hmm…Oh, I should introduce ourselves."

"I really don't think that's a good idea…"

"Now hush. We've discussed this. As long as Mr. Runner is our gust…"

"Subject." Claudius cut in.

"Yes, as long as he is our **subject** he deserves to know who we are." He finished by crossing his arms over his chest as if to say 'that's final'. "Now, I am Dr. Randal Thaddeus Watruba the III, and this (indicates to Claudius) is Claudius Tiberius Nero. He is my lab assistant."

"You know I prefer just Nero." He stated rather angrily.

"Oh yes, yes, **Nero**. Out of all the names you have I thought you would want to go by the one that wasn't an homage to an **insane murderer**."

"Well I **don't**." He stated 'matter-of-factly'. _Why doesn't that surprise me_. Rev thought. He mentally cringed (he still didn't have enough control to do much else). Then he realized that the comment was just in his head.

"Hello…doctor" Rev managed weakly. The doctor's face lit up.

"Please, call me Randal." He then reached out and shook Rev's arm. He than saw Rev wince and looked at his arm. It had a few bruises and a long cut running from his shoulder to the middle of his fore-arm. He looked over Rev's body more carefully and saw that this was the case on much of his body. He sighed heavily then looked at Nero.

"You call **this** being gentle?" Randal hissed. Nero simply shrugged. "Go get the first aid kit please." He said exasperated. Nero walked off to fetch the item that was requested and returned quickly. "Good. Now go…prepare the…project." Randal said with barely hidden spite.

"Yes doctor." Nero said with some spite and some boredom and walked off.

Randal took a deep breath. "Honestly. Sometimes that man rely gets on my nerves. I HATE it when he disobeys my orders. Especially when it comes to the handling of subjects." He said this and then began to disinfect Rev's cuts and wrap the larger ones. Rev winced once or twice, but eventually got over it. _At least I know the feeling is coming back_. Randal worked quickly and diligently, which led Rev to believe he was a clinical doctor and not a professor of science of something, like Tech. The Thought of Tech suddenly brought up bad thoughts and even worse feelings. So he pushed them down and focused on the present.

"Thank you…for helping…me" Rev rasped out slowly. His chest still hurt and his throat was dry.

"Think nothing of it." Randal said gently. "I'm a doctor first and a scientist second, after all."

"Your…a sci…entist and a…doctor?"

"Well...I have training in both fields so...yes. You sound thirsty. I'll go get you something to drink." And with that he rushed off (having finished the bandaging). _He seemed a little uncomfortable about his jobs. I wonder why that is? I should ask him…later._

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**Well that's chap 4. Good? Bad? Tell, Tell, and TELL me okay.**


	5. The mystery

**Ch5: A/N: Two reviews. Keep them coming.**

_**See last chapter for legal documentations.**_

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_Well this is kind of…strange. Sure its not like I get kidnapped a lot, nor do I know anybody who has been previously, but at this point I should be chained to a radiator in some small, dark, filthy bathroom, right. Maybe that's just a myth. Well a bird can hope I guess._ Rev thought.

The doctor came back with a bottle of water. "Here you are." He presented it to Rev who, at this point, had sat up and had his legs over the edge of the cot. Rev accepted the drink eagerly. "Thanks." He crocked before opening the bottle and taking a long drink.

"So…are-you-going-to-tell-me-why-I'm-here?" Rev asked when he was done with his drink. He was finally feeling well enough to speak regularly (for him any way).

"Yes, of course. You see…" the doctor stopped when he saw Nero come up behind Rev. Once he was behind him he quickly reached over and down so he could grab Rev's leg and clap on some kind of anklet. Then he pulled out a remote from his jacket and pressed a button on it. A red light went on on the anklet and almost immediately Rev felt exhausted and his thoughts became muddled and confused.

"Whoa, what was **that**?" His head was spinning and if he weren't already sitting down he probably would have had to anyway. _What happened to my voice? What did that…big…jerk (yawn) do to…GOD am I tired. _Suddenly he collapsed back onto the cot. Randal went over and saw that the roadrunner was already fast asleep.

"Really Nero, was that necessary?" he asked a little angry.

"I didn't think it was a good idea to tell him about the project until the device was on. It was purely to protect you. Who knows how he might have reacted to the information you were about to give." Nero replied as he tried desperately to hold back the fiendish grin that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. The doctor seemed to see strait through this but just said, "Well…I suppose you have a point. At any rate, we certainly can't afford for him to just run away. Which is all, I'm sure, he would have tried. He seems to be the least aggressive out of his entire team."

"That's because he's weak." Nero said pointedly. Randal sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Compassion is NOT a sign of …oh never mind. What's done is done. He looks like he'll be out for quite some time so lets finish setting up for tonight's operation, shall we?" he gestured away from Rev and walked off.

"Oh yes…" Nero looks down at Rev and smiles sinisterly, "lets."_ Phase one: check. Now for phase two. _He then walks off toward the doctor.

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Tech paced in his lab nervously. _Great. This is just GREAT! Now I have to tell the others that Rev left. This is not going to be good. Ace is going to be __**mad**__. Maybe I could just play dumb and let them figure it out them selves. No. That's the coward's way out. Besides, their just as much to blame as I am. Yes, I'm going to tell them right now._ He walks over to the door but suddenly hears a metallic 'click' from behind him. He looks over and sees that it came from somewhere near the severed robot head. He walks back over to the desk it's on and picks it up. When he dose it's red eyes flash to life and Tech yelps in surprise and drops it to the floor. He regains his composure and picks it back up carefully. He fully expected it to explode in his hands as a result of some delayed self-destruct program. But as he studies the head he realizes that it's eyes are acting as a projector to display a message. He aims the head at a blank wall and is able to make out the message as reading:

**This is property of Dr. Randal T. ****Watruba III**

"Well that's convenient. How did I miss **that**during my initial examination? Oh well. Time to do a little research on this Dr. Watruba III." Tech then moved back to his computer to look up this new lead.

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"That should get those **heroes **on the right track." Nero said to him self as he looked at the display on his palm-computer that read **'Message Sent'.**

"Nero. What are you doing? I still require your assistance over here." Randal called out.

"Coming doctor." Nero said with a satisfied grin. _All is going to plan. It's almost __**too**__ easy. _He once again made this silent joke.

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**Well there. I'm trying to make the story more suspenseful and mysterious. Is it working? Or am I just being vague and stupid (answer in review).**

**This next part is aimed directly at Akira Cat and is a response to their review. So any body else will probably want to stop reading NOW (lest ye be bored and confused).**

**To You. First: thanks for reviewing. I appreciate it A LOT. Second: I appreciate your input and will most certainly take your suggestions under consideration. However, as an American, I am now honor bound to prove you wrong, or at the very least defend my actions. **

**First, I see where you are coming from when you said I used 'was' a lot in my first chapter, BUT the reason for that is I, as an avid reader myself, do not care for long, flowing, poetic descriptions of scenery and back round (mostly because its usually not important to the story). Its worth mentioning for sure, it can even be important to the story, but in most cases I like to get through the descriptions and get to the 'meat' of the story (i.e. dialog, plot/character development ext.). This is the way I feel and it is reflected in my writing. **

**Second: The next part you said was a good point. I simply wanted to make sure everybody knew whom the doctor was referring to, and I used the parentheses because it was the best thing I could think of at the time. Your idea is good though, so I thank you for the advice. **

**Third (and finally): I apologize for my spelling/grammar errors. BUT, as It is said in my profile, and I quote "**_**I have the spelling capabilities of a 1**__**st**__** grader" **_**That, unfortunately, is not a joke. I had trouble spelling the word 'dumb' in this story (originally dum). Maybe this means I can never be a good writer. Who knows. For now just let me say it could be much worse. I spell check at least FIVE times on both **_**Word**_** and the site. So what else can I do?**

**Any-hoo. That's it till next time. Buy (just kidding) bye. **


	6. The answers

**Ch6: Hello. Sorry about keeping you waiting. In keeping with tradition, I must thank each reviewer. So First: thanks to Adregalus for continuously 'having my back' so to say. It means a lot. Blackmoondragon1415. Thank you for making sense out of my story (some how). And finally, the legendary reviewed MY story, and said it was "Absolutely fantastic". Thank you all so much.**

_**I own two of the 8 characters in this story (guess witch ones **__**)**_

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Rev opened his eyes suddenly. At first he could not remember anything. Then it all came back. He hoped that it was all just some strange dream. Then he felt his arms, and his legs, and his back. He was in pain all over. _Well I suppose it was real. Awesome._ He sat up slowly and saw Randal sitting in a padded chair reading a book a few feet away. He noticed Rev was awake and put down his book.

"Well hello. Good to see you awake."

"Yah…hay. Where's Nero? Off torching some small woodland critter?" He said with more than a little contempt for the man.

"No, actually, he's out picking up grocery's for diner." Rev was intrigued. He hadn't eaten in hours, and with his high metabolism that was a long time.

"What are we having?" "Caesar salad with ranch dressing and garlic croutons." was the reply.

"Wow, that sounds great!" Rev said excitedly.

"Well it is what you ordered." The doctor said. Rev looked at him curiously. "You do know you talk in your sleep…right?" Rev only shook his head. This was news to him. "Yes. You and I had a very…interesting conversation." He had a strange smile on his face that made Rev a little uneasy.

"About what?" Rev asked expectantly. He was interested to know exactly they had discussed.

"Well when you first 'went under' Nero and I attended to some other matters and when we came back you were mumbling a lot. I looked at the clock and saw it was getting late so I asked Nero what he thought about dinner. Then you said you wanted salad. I sent Nero out to get the necessary components. He left and I was about to leave you to rest, but you were felling particularly chatty, so I pulled up a chair and we started talking. You were surprisingly coherent for a sleeping person."

"So what **exactly **did I say?" Rev was a little annoyed that Randal would not get to the point.

"Yes, well first you talked about how you were in some pain. Then you said how you were angry with one of your friends. Although I'm not sure witch one. You kept referring to him as 'the coyote'. That would be Tech E. Coyote right?"

"Uh…yah, he's the coyote." Rev was a little nervous about where this was going to lead.

"Well I made a comment that you must miss him. Then you started going on and on about how much you miss him. I asked about the rest of your team but you always referred back to him. You talked for hours about how much you miss him, and admire him, and look up to him, and like him, and how you lo…"

"Really, that's interesting. Any way I would really like to know why I'm here exactly." Rev spat out. He wanted to get off the subject as quickly as possible. Randal saw this and smiled knowingly but obliged his request.

"Well I suppose its time I told you. You see you are here as a part an experiment I'm conducting. You and your team are, arguably, the best crime fighting force in the world. So…how to explain this next part. Are you familiar with the scientific method?"

"Well sure." Hanging around Tech the super scientist means you learn some things. "Its like where you have a bunch of steps and stuff to follow when your doing an experiment."

"Yes…well sort of. There are six steps in the scientific method: question, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion, and communication. My question was 'How much effect do emotions and personalities affect the effectiveness of a team like yours?' My hypothesis is that even removing the weakest member of the team will cause the remaining subjects to loose their ability to fight crime." He paused here to let Rev take in every thing he had just heard. Slowly though, the meaning behind one phrase in particular sunk in completely. He looked down at the ground, suddenly very gloomy and sullen.

"And I'm the weakest member of my team." He said quietly. Randal saw this sudden change from curious to very downtrodden.

"Well that is debatable. It really came down to either you or that Danger fellow." Randal said a little uncomfortable.

"You picked me over **Duck?"** That certainly did not make Rev feel any better.

"In the end though, it came down to the fact that if I hadn't chosen you, than I would have had to build a device to block your GPS power, and I just didn't have the kind of resources to do that. All my resourceswent into…other parts of the experiment." He tried once again to console him. He had not meant to insult the bird.

"Like what?" Rev asked feeling satisfied with the doctor's explanation.

"Well like this for starters." He said as he stood and moved over to a wall where there was tarp covering a large object. _Man, whatever is under there is __**huge. **__It has to be a least 8ft tall. And its top is pointed. Almost like there was an antenna or maybe a cone. Wait…cone, 8ft tall, __**chrome feet! **__It can't be. _But it was. The doctor pulled off the tarp and there stood the robot that had been attacking the city for the past week.

**(A/N: I forgot to mention the that the robot has a complete chrome finish over it's entire body, my bad)**

"This is the RTW 2700 'scapegoat'." Randal presented his robotic creation proudly. Suddenly Rev got angry. The super hero instincts he had come to develop kicked in. He stood up with clenched fists.

"You created this **thing **that's been attacking the city? What is wrong with you!?" Rev shouted and took a step toward the doctor. Randal got a sour look on his face.

"Now settle down Rev. Think before you act. Has any one been killed or hurt in my attacks?"

"No." was all Rev could say.

"Have any of your friends been seriously harmed?"

"No, but…"

"At worst I have done a few hundred thousand dollars in property damage. In comparison to other 'criminals' that's nothing." He said confidently "If I had wanted to harm any one don't you think I would have done it by now?" Rev had to agree to that. From what he had seen, that robot could have destroyed half of the city and the Loonatics would have been unable to stop it. But he wasn't going to let go that easily.

"Yah but you can't just…" he took another step forward.

"I would suggest you stop moving before…" Randal started but it was too late. As soon as Rev took another step he fell forward as his whole body went limp. Randal lunged forward and was able to catch Rev before he crashed to the ground. He moved him back over near his cot and then the strange numbness he had felt disappeared just as fast as it had started.

"The rest of my resources went into building that." He pointed to the object on Revs ankle. "I call it the power dampening collar. I made it from a special isotope of curium so…"

"CURIUM. OH GOD, Iv lost my powers haven't I? That's why I'm talking like this, and why I can't find this place with my GPS, and…" he blurted out in a panic wile waving his arms around in the air. He remembered that curium was an element that had the capability of 'curing' him and the others of their powers. The doctor reached out and clamped his beak shut so he could be heard.

"Settle down. Yes you cannot use your powers but it's **not **permanent. The shackle is just iron with the curium isotope mixed in. This isotope is diluted and is less potent than elemental curium." He finished calmly. Rev settled down after that. He trusted the doctor not to lie about something like this. "As for why you just fell limp, that is also due to the PDC. I discovered that when you run an electric current through this 'curium N', as I call it, it can block the neural signals that your brain sends out to your body. Causing temporary paralysis."

"But it is temporary right?" Rev asked still just a little uneasy.

"Well…I wasn't able to determine long term effects of the device. So I suggest you not activate it too many times." _Well that wasn't very convincing…but what ever. _

"So how do I avoid getting paralyzed?"

"Just stay within the boundaries and it wont be activated." Randal pointed up and Rev saw that there was a large sheet of metal hanging from the ceiling. It was only about 10x10 but that was to be expected. Rev looked at this for a few moments, then a though came into his mind.

"Hey wait, if you're just a doctor, how did you build the robot, and make the collar?" Rev asked as he pointed to the robot and the device on his leg.

"I may be a sociologist by trade, but I dabble in many other fields as well. I'm what you might call a 'jack of all trades', although it was Nero who took care of most of those things. He is a remarkably fast learner, and is very adapt at creating machines. He is also very…resourceful, and clever, for his age." Then they heard a door open and in walked Nero carrying a paper bag.

"Well speak of the devil. We were just discussing your technical prowess." _Devil. You hit the nail on the head there_. Nero simply grunted and walked over toward the two. "How about you keep our guest company and I'll take care of this." Randal said as he took the bag and walked off and into another room at the end of the building. _Keep me company he says. Right. Well I shouldn't be that much of a jerk to him, if only because he scares me…a lot._

"So…the doctor tells me that you built that robot," he stated simply with a brighter than necessary smile. Nero looked sullen and VERY moody. He thought it was a good way to start a conversation

"And designed it, and got the materials, and wrote the programming. Pretty much did every thing." He said rather gloomily. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall staring intently at Rev with his cold dark eyes.

"He also says he works in a lot of other fields."

"Yah." He started suddenly very bored "He mostly dose medical work, biology, chemistry, psychology, and the like. I, on the other hand, work with technology. Like computers, robotics, programming, engineering yada yada yada. Plus I do all the grunt work."

"So Randal works with living beings and you work with cold lifeless machines. That makes sense." Rev's smile widened as he made this little joke. Nero was not amused. In an instant his entire face darkened and his stare became one of burning fury. He got off the wall and closed the distance between Rev and himself with a few long strides. Once he was within arms reach he shot out his arm, grabbed Revs shirt, and yanked him right up to him. Rev could only gulp loudly and wait for it all to end. _Well this is it. I'm going to die because I made fun of some psychopath wile I was rendered powerless. Stupid me._

"Listen and listen good. I don't like you, and I don't like your friends. The last thing this world needs is a bunch of **animals **running around acting like…like heroes." He spat out viciously. Before he could continue they both heard foot seeps approaching. He gave Rev one last glare before he placed Rev on the ground (in order for Rev to be at eye level he had to be lifted up a few inches, a feet that Nero had no trouble achieving) and began straitening his shirt. He smiled with mock sincerity and said, almost in a whisper, "You just see. If I have my way you wont leave this place alive." Then Randal came into view.

"Nero can you help me set up dinner?"

"Yes doctor." Nero replied in a cherry tone and walked toward the kitchen area. Randal was about to leave but noticed that Rev was…shaking?

"Is everything all right Rev?" he asked a little confused and concerned. Rev opened his beak to say 'NO EVERY THING IS NOT OK. THAT GUY IS GOING TO KILL ME!' but stopped when he saw Nero staring at him from behind the doctor. He shook his head and made a 'cut-throat' gesture. Rev defiantly got the message. So he just nodded. Randal looked at him for a minuet then shrugged and walked off. Rev sat heavily on the cot. _This is not going to end well._

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Meanwhile Randal and Nero were setting the table in the improvised dining area (they were currently living in an abandoned warehouse).

"Nero. Were you making trouble for our guest?" Randal asked casually.

"Oh, of coarse not doctor. I would never do something like that." He said in the most innocent voice he could muster.

"Right." Was all the doctor replied with. He knew Nero. He had hired him many years ago and had learned a lot about the man. He had his suspicions but he kept faith in his subordinate. "I'll go bring our guest his dinner." Randal said and walked off with two plates.

_That bird better not blow my cover or I swear he won't live to see tomorrow. _Was what Nero thought as he took a bite out of a tomato slice.

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**Well that's it till next time. Because this took so long I have to write more 'thank you' messages. To and Blackmoondragon1415: THANK YOU SO MUCH. They both put MY story in their favorites category. That is so amazingly cool of you two. Also I have a question. What dose it mean when somebody adds your story to his or her 'story alert subscription'? Is that good? That's what has been happening lately. If you know than please tell me (and throw in a review wile your at it why don't you). By the way that whole 'Rev talks in his sleep' was just a shot in the dark. If I had to justify it I would say its possible because we know he is a restless sleeper. Plus he can't stop talking when he's awake, right.**


	7. The monster

**Ch7: To shadow-Rose99: Thanks for the props. I assume you're one of the many Rev fans out there. If that is the case than I feel it is my duty to say that this may make you and others like you weep. That's all I'm gona say. CadillacJack: first, awesome name. Next, very nice comments. Dr. jekyll and Mr. Hyde, that's a great idea…I mean that's what I meant to do the whole time…(clears throat) any way that's about it. Keep on R&Ring ok.**

_**I own nothing.**_

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Tech had spent all night researching and had learned a lot about this doctor. He was finally ready to tell the others by the next morning. He put his wrist communicator to an open channel and addressed all the loonatics, "Attention every one. I know who has been attacking the city with the robot. Meet me in the briefing room ASAP."

A few minuets later every body had been assembled and were waiting for Tech to start his presentation.

"Well come on. Lets get this bore fest over with." Duck blurted out. Recently he had been showing an ever-greater lack of tact. Every one just ignored him (as usual).

"So Tech, what did ya find?" Ace asked expectantly. He was **very **frustrated with the situation. The person, or persons, who built the robot had been continually out smarting and humiliating his team. He had been unable to figure out a way to stop the thing, and had been forced to rely on Tech's 'toys' (which all failed).

"Well Ace…" Tech was finally done setting up and began the presentation. "I have discovered that the person who built this robot is a man by the name of Randal T. Watruba III."

"And that would be…?" Lexi asked.

"He is a very…controversial doctor and scientist. You see, he started his career as a sociologist and was very promising. He conducted a great number of interesting, if not some what frivolous, experiments concerning mainly how people interact with each other." He paused and looked around and saw only confused stares. "Its like this. One of his more famous experiments was where he would take a group of subjects ranging from 3-10 people and put them in a room. He would then bring in a tray with cups of water and ask that they drink all the water. What they would discover is that there would always be extra cups. Sometimes there was one, sometimes five depending on the size of the group. He would then simply sit back and observe how the subjects reacted to, and handled the situation."

"This guy sounds like a creep." Duck stated and Slam nodded in agreement.

"Technically that was his job, but yes it is a little strange. Well eventually his experiments became more and more extreme. Soon a growing number of people said he was a heartless madman. He was only able to avoid legal action by claiming that all of his subjects were willing volunteers and that he told them before they signed up that they would be put into 'extreme and intense situations of conflict as well as other stressful situations'. This turned out to be true...as far as anybody could tell"

"I suppose that makes sense. Than these robot attacks could all just be apart of some sick experiment?" Ace asked as he worked to get inside the mind of this new adversary.

"Yes, that is possible." Tech confirmed.

"Well what are we waiting for? Lets go get this guy and throw him in jail already." Said Duck.

"I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy. Even though he was never formally prosecuted, he was still ostracized by the general scientific community. Nobody would agree to publish his findings and he was banned from attending any scientific or medical congregations. Finally, when he was fired from his position as researcher at the Acmetropolis institute of psychology, he disappeared. That was seven years ago and as far as I can tell, nobody has seen or heard from him since."

"Well that's great. Now we know who is behind this, but we still cant do squat about it. " Duck threw his arms up in the air exasperated.

"He must be some where." Lexi said to Duck.

"Right. Maybe Zadavia will be able to find him." Ace said as he stood up with a determined look in his eyes. "We're finally gona catch this guy and put a stop to that rampaging metal man!" He was finally back on the hunt. No more waiting around to be attacked and then failing to do anything to stop it. Every one brightened up as they saw their leader turning back to his old self. Just then Slam looked around and noticed something.

"Gllargbbleg Rev?" he asked, having noticed the roadrunner was not present. The others looked around and saw this.

"Hey ya. Where is that rapid fire roadrunner?" Said Duck.

_Oh right. That. _Thought Tech. With all the researching he had completely forgot about telling the others about Rev leaving. _Well better late than never._

"Ah well…he left." Tech began rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why?" The other three said at once.

"He said…he needed some…time away." Tech said with a sheepish grin. He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of a better way to tell them. "He's at his parents house."

"Oh sure. He gets to take a vacation and we get to deal with the crazy doctor and his unstoppable robot killing machine. This is just…" "Can it Duck!" Ace snapped. "And you just let him go?" he asked the coyote with a little anger.

"Well…I didn't **want **him to go, but its not like I could catch him." He made this little joke to lighten the mood some. It did not work.

"Well I'm gona go tell him ta get his feathered behind back here..."

"He left his communicator here." Tech informed Ace. He had already tried to contact his friend, but had found Rev's uniform in a corner of his room on the floor. Ace rubbed his eyes exasperated. He did not need to deal with this now. But never the less, he had to make sure Rev (and everybody) knew that they could not just take off when ever they felt like it. Especially not during a crisis like this.

"I'll call his parents house then." He did so and had a quick discussion. He found out something very disturbing. "He's not there!" He almost shouted. He was angry. _Now he's lying to people about where he's going! When I find him I swear I'll... _

"That's strange. With his speed he should have been there in no time." Tech suddenly got a bad felling in the pit of his stomach when he said this. Lexi seemed to mirror these feelings.

"You don't think something might have happened to him do you?"

"I'm sure he's just playing hooky." Duck waved off their worries with utter carelessness.

"I, actually, have ta go with Duck on dis one. Revs probably fine. We'll worry about him later. Right now we have to find this doctor before he gets somebody killed!" The others reluctantly agreed.

_Ace is right…_Tech thought. _Rev is probably just fine._

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Rev was not 'just fine'.

He had finished his dinner several hours ago and was now lying down in his cot. He and Randal had had a nice conversation. Rev could feel himself warming up to the doctor. _For a kidnapping evil scientist, he is very accommodating._ Rev was even debating if he was actually evil. _Compared to other criminals, he's a saint. On the other hand he is putting lots of people in danger. Well I'm just glad he's in charge and not that psycho Nero._ Just then as he lay there in the dark staring at the ceiling he heard footsteps. He felt another presence near him. He then heard the sound of masking tape being pulled off its role. His eyes widened but before he could react further he felt his beak clamped shut and taped so it would stay that way. He then was flipped over and had is hands bound behind him. In his growing panicked state all he could think was _I hope that this tape doesn't rip out my feathers. That would make me look stupid. _These thoughts were shoved out of his mind as he was again effortlessly flipped onto his back and saw, standing over him smiling, Nero. _Well to be honest I kind of expected it to be him. But that doesn't make me feel any better. _

"There we go. Now were ready." Rev could tell two things about what was about to happen: 1) it was going to be painful and 2) Nero was going to enjoy it…a lot. "You know…" he continued in a quiet voice "I've been beating people for a long time. So long in fact, I like to think that I have worked it into an art form." _That settles it. This guy is absolutely insane! _Rev tried to hide the fear he was feeling. He could tell it was not working when he heard Nero chuckle. "You can relax. I'm not going to kill you…yet. First we're going to have some fun." He finished by cracking his knuckles. "Like I was saying, I've learned that if you really want to make a beating stick you have to make it last just long enough so that it still hurts and they don't get desensitized to the pain. That's why I always work the stomach the most. First it doesn't show damage as easily as the head does, and in this case that is important. _Well I guess that means that the doctor doesn't know about this. That doesn't really surprise me. _"And second, if you work the head too much than the person gets hazy and they lose consciousness too easily. Not to mention the possibility of a concussion. Any way…" then he suddenly brought his fist down onto Revs completely vulnerable stomach with devastating force. Rev lurched up then back down. _Ouch. _Nero stopped and rubbed his chin. "No this won't work, not at all." He then grabbed Rev's shoulders and lifted him out of the cot. He dragged him over to a wall and stood him against it. He then punched him in the gut causing Rev to double over onto the floor. "There we go. This is much better." He picked Rev back up and pinned him to the wall with one hand as he began pounding his stomach with punishing efficiency.

Rev didn't know how long it lasted, it could have been minuets, it could have been hours. All he knew was that when Nero had said he worked out the best way to beat people, he was right. His blows rained down and hit the same spot over and over again. This increased their effectiveness greatly. Then suddenly it stopped, and he felt himself being dragged back over to his cot. Nero then threw him down onto it. He removed the tape from Rev's hands then from his beak. Rev began to groan but had his beak shut again. "Shhh. We wouldn't want to wake the doctor, now would we? On that same note, **don't say anything **to him **or else.**" He squeezed Revs neck a little. "Get the picture?" He added harshly. Rev nodded and Nero removed his hands from his beak and neck. "Good. Sweet dreams, and don't worry. We'll do this again real soon." Then he walked off to go to bed. Rev was left only to curl up into a tight ball cry himself to sleep.

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**Ok there we are. Before you ask, I have no personal problems with Rev. Actually I don't think I've ever had a 'problem' with a cartoon. Wait, I take that back, Buster Bunny from ****Tiny Toons**** (shudders). I HATE that guy. Any way, R&R wont you. **


	8. The true monster

**Ch8: To Adregalus: I think I'm going for 2-3 more chapters but I'm not sure yet. No plan in place so we'll see where we go from here. Blackmoondragon1415: I think you will be pleasantly surprised in the very near future by the good doctor. Having a little trouble writing this so let's see how it goes**

**_You know the drill._**

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Life for Rev quickly became a nightmare. He lived in constant fear. He wished he could talk to somebody about it. After the first incident he was still shaken up and in immense pain the next morning. Randal seemed to notice this.

"Is every thing all right Rev?" Rev desperately wanted to tell the doctor what was happening, but he could not. When he had first woke up he saw Nero waiting for him.

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"What do you want?" Rev said with equal parts anger and terror.

"Good morning to you too. I just want to make sure your not going to go and tell the good doctor about what happened last night." He casually explained.

"I should! He would never allow what your doing!" Rev sincerely hoped that was true. At this point, as far as Rev could tell, Randal was the only thing keeping him alive.

"No he would not be to happy to hear about my activities. Although if you were to tell him…it would not work out for either of you."

"What dose that mean?" Rev asked genuinely curious about where this was going. Then he had a terrible thought. _He would not hurt Randal…would he?_

"Let me put it this way. I would not miss either of you." Nero replied with chilling coolness.

"Y…you…you would…" Rev stammered and was answered when he saw Nero nod his head.

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"I'm fine." Was all Rev could say. If he tried anything else he was sure he would have broke down and started crying then and there. An act that he was sure would get both of them killed. So for the next few days he was subjected to random and savage beatings. They all went unnoticed by Randal, not because of his own ineptitude (Rev could see that the doctor suspected something was wrong but had yet to say any thing) but more due to the fact that Nero, as Rev quickly learned, was very intelligent. He possessed a cold calculating mind that meant that each beating was not only brutal, but also very well planned out and thought out. Rev had lost almost all hope after one particular 'session' (as Nero began to refer to them as).

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It was around one in the afternoon and Rev was sitting in a chair that was inside his boundaries. Randal was in the area of the warehouse that served as his office and would be there for some time.

He sat still. Not moving a muscle. Barley breathing. He was listening. Listening for any sound that might indicate another session was about to start. It was the third day of his captivity, and he was an absolute wreck. His stomach, sides, and chest were almost covered with a continues blue and black bruise that was dark enough to be seen through his red feathers. This was not that surprising because he had started to lose feathers all over his body. He contributed this to: stress, being continuously battered and pummeled, and not eating (he had found keeping food down very hard lately). Then Nero came strolling around a corner of a wall, evidently not caring for subtlety. Rev stood up with clenched fists.

He had made a decision. He was not going to take it any more. He could not get any help, so it was up to him. As an athlete he knew that soon he would be too weak to try anything at the rate he was going. So he decided to make a stand…even if it got him killed. Nero held up a role of tape ominously. Rev shook his head 'no'. Nero cocked his head slightly, then a smile spread across his face. He placed the tape down on a table and walked over to Rev. He then pointed to his chin and then put his hands behind his back. _He's giving me a free shot? Well, better make it count._ Rev wound up and through a punch with every thing he had. It landed, and it hurt…his hand. He pulled it away and cradled it. He looked up to see Nero with his head turned, he than turned back with a blank look on his face. He slowly lifted his hand and stuck his thumb out sideways. Rev was confused more than a little nervous. Than the twisted, sinister smile that Rev had come to associate solely with him and all other mad men came onto his face. Nero slowly turned his thumb down. Rev understood the gesture, but was unable to do anything to stop the next action. Which was a punch to the chest that left him breathless. Nero then gently pushed him so that he fell back down into the chair behind him.

"Nice try kid, but better luck next time." He turned and started to walk away. "You might try some free weights." He chuckled at his own joke wile Rev was once again left to sob quietly, alone, in pain, scared out of his mind, without hope.

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Tech was once again pacing in his lab. Alone. He found himself doing this a lot lately. It had been five days since Revs disappearance. They had not been able to locate the doctor even with Zadavia's help. Plus, now the robot had not been seen since Rev left. Tech could only assume these two events were related. He found himself unable to eat, sleep, work, or do anything. All his time was spent on one thing. Rev. Thinking about Rev. Worrying about Rev. Remembering the times the two of them shared. He could not stop thinking about him. How much he missed him. How much he wished he knew where he was. He just wanted to talk to him, to be near him, to…hold him. It was these thoughts that also started to worry Tech. He had so many emotions swirling around in him. Anger, sorrow, worry, confusion, and other feelings he could not find names for. He tried to tell himself that Rev was all right, but he somehow knew it was not true.

_I hope he is all right. If he's not I…I don't know what I'll do. The last time I talked to him. What was I thinking? I should not have snapped at him just because I was having some difficulties. If I could just see him again I would…what would I say? What could I say? Hey Rev, sorry I yelled at you and caused you to run away and get kidnapped. That would not be good enough. I could just tell him the truth. I was wrong and I'm sorry. That's still too weak. If I were honest with myself he would be the most important person in my life. But he knows that already. Right?_

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For the past two days Randal had been spending a lot more time with Rev. He liked this a lot. Not only because every moment spent with the doctor was another moment that he and Nero could not have another session, but he just liked to talk with him, although it was getting harder and harder to deflect attention away from his obviously deteriorating health (and it did not help that Randal knew more about health than the average person).

"Are you sure you're felling well Rev. I could just take a look…"

"No! That's ok. I'm fine, really." Rev tried to keep his voice calm and convincing. He decided that the only way to get off the subject was to ask a question he had wanted to ask for some time. "Any way, how did you become a sociologist, if you don't mind me asking?" This tactic seemed to work but also had an unintended effect. Randal seemed to become more sullen. His eyes dimmed and his face showed pain. He leaned back into his chair and sighed.

"Well…I suppose it started when I was young. You see…when I was ten my mother was murdered by an escaped convict. It affected me severely. I was able to get over it enough to go on with my life...but I don't think I ever fully recovered." He paused for a second.

"You don't have to tell me if your not comfortable." Rev said. He did not want to cause the doctor any pain by bringing up painful memories.

"No…no, its fine. Any way, when I was in college my father and little brother were killed in a failed bank robbery. After that I began asking myself 'why? How? How could these things happen? How could people do things like this?' So I began searching for the answers to those questions."

"Did you find them?" Rev asked sheepishly.

"Yes. Well…I got answers I was satisfied with. I fear, however, that I may have made some mistakes along the way. At first people praised me for my hunger for knowledge and supported my quest to obtain as much of it as I could. But eventually people said my experiments became too extreme." He looked down at the floor. "They started calling me a…monster. All I ever wanted to do was learn but…they heated me for it." Rev could almost see tears form in the doctor's eyes. He had not expected this kind-hearted man to have such a sad and sorrowful past. "They began excluding me from all functions. They said I was a…a criminal. A cold, heartless criminal." He said this quietly. He suddenly stood up. "If you'll excuse me. I have…have to go do…something." He was barely able to choke out these words before hurrying away toward his office. Rev felt really bad for him. Then Nero came into view. He looked over in the direction the doctor had gone and once he heard the door close he turned back to Rev. He walked forward and cracked his knuckles. Rev only sighed at this. _Here we go again._

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**That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it. Keep reading and reviewing ok.**


	9. The worsening situation

**Ch9: What, no tears for the doctor? That's cold people. I was going for a serious sob story there (and I mean you CadyJack). Adregalus: I appreciate your input as always, but the beatings Rev has been taking are nothing compared to your murdering of the English language (don't worry though; your reviews always make me smile :). Blackmoondragon1415: patience my friend, things will change when they need to.**

**_I do not own any LU characters_**

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_This is it. I'm gonna die_. Rev found himself thinking this a lot. Especially when he started coughing up blood. He was no doctor but he knew that that was not a good sign. He had been in captivity for a week now and it was taking its toll. He tried to hide this from the doctor as well as he could. Nero, however, noticed this rather quickly.

"Well I suppose this has gone on long enough." Nero said after seeing Rev on the floor barely conscious after a relatively light session.

"What…do…you…mean?" Rev gasped.

"These last few days have been fun…"

"For you." Rev interjected crossly.

"**But, **like I said its time we move on in this operation." Before Rev could ask any more questions Nero reached down and pulled him to his feet. Unfortunately, Rev was not feeling very stable, so Nero had to grab onto his shirt to keep him upright. "Here's how it's going to go down. Tonight you are going to tell the doctor that you would like some fish for dinner. You're going to ask him in two hours. He will ask if you want catfish, you will say 'yes'."

"Why?" Rev could not help but ask. He had serious misgivings about helping this madman do anything. Nero cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the woozy roadrunner. He then slapped him across the face. This served to not only wake the bird up but also served as the answer to Rev's question.

"That's why! Now just do it." He released Rev and stalked away. _I probably shouldn't, but what choice do I have? _Rev was almost completely beyond resistance at this point. He was only concerned with surviving. He found that unlikely, but he really didn't want to die. Plus, there was still the slim hope of his friends finding him.

He had asked Randal exactly how long he was going to be kept there. He had made it clear that he did have plans to release Rev, but only once the other Loonatics had faced some type of adversary or crisis. That was, after all, the whole point of this 'experiment'. He had also stopped using the 'scapegoat since it was obviously too powerful for the Loonatics to handle even wile they were at full strength (he had commented that Nero had really out done himself much to Rev's distaste). Rev could not understand how a person like Randal, who had never shown Rev anything but kindness, would put up with such an obviously sinister and evil villain. At any rate he had no idea of when he was suppose to be getting out.

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It had been two hours and Rev had followed his orders. He had discovered that Randal loved catfish. He also said he knew the best place to get it fresh. It was, however, a long ways away. So he would be gone for some time. Rev had felt his heart jump into his throat when the doctor insisted on going to pick it up himself. This meant that he would be alone with Nero for several hours. He concluded this to be a death sentence for him.

_Well, its finally time to get on with the show. _Nero thought as he did some work on the scapegoat. Then he went over to Rev's 'enclosure' and proceeded to bind him to a chair.

"And your doing this…why?" Rev asked as he had his hands and feet tied.

"Its time to move on to phase three of my plan." Nero replied.

"**Your plan**? What's…" He was cut off as his beak was also taped shut.

"Yes. MY plan to get rid of you **and **all your friends." Rev's eyes widened at this. He could not believe…well it really was not that surprising, but it was still surprising to hear it said out loud. "I'm going to do what so many failed to do. Kill the Loonatics, and I'm sure it is going to be a snap." He emphasized the last part with an actual 'snap' of his fingers. Nero walked away at that point to another part of the warehouse. He soon returned with some kind of recording device. _Ok. Time to send out the messenger to retrieve the rest of my targets. _Nero thought sinisterly. He used his palm computer to activate the robot and sent it out one of the large doors and it jetted off into the sky.

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It had been painfully quiet week for the Loonatics. There had hardly been anything more serious than a cat stuck in a tree so they had a lot of free time. Free time is fine in small doses, but in excessive amounts it can be very harmful. Especially if you have something on your mind you would rather not think about. Tech was learning that most of all. He was practically driving himself crazy with guilt, remorse, worry, and simple sadness (luckily he was still sane enough to realize this). He was, ironically, in almost as bad shape as Rev was. They were both suffering immensely, though Tech's was mostly self-inflicted misery. His other teammates might have tried to comfort him, but they were dealing with the daily monotony only slightly better than the genius coyote.

After Tech, Ace had to be the most miserable. He was feeling increasingly worse about what was going on. The situation, he saw, was completely out of his control and he hated it. It reminded him of his time as a stunt man. 'Do this, do that, don't do this, go here, fall down, get up'. It was nothing but an endless stream of commands, commands that he was expected to follow without question. He thought when he became the leader of the Loonatics he would always be in control.

Ace was in the living room area thinking (or rather brooding) about these things. It was almost dark out and he had done nothing all day. _Another day wasted. Another day that Rev is in danger, and another day I haven't done __**anything**__ about it. I cant take much more of this. _He thought bitterly. He then sighed, _what else can I do? Nothing, that's what! I just wish something would happen. __**Anything.**_ Then looked up from his lap, which he had been staring at for the last hour and a half, and looked out the large windows that made up the opposite wall. He was startled to see, instead of the city scenery, the robot hovering out side. Once he saw it, it proceeded to come inside by crashing through the windows. _Well, I did say anything._ He thought as he stared at the robot in his living room. It was just as he remembered it, big, tall, shiny, and **very** imposing.

"Ah…you guys. I could use some backup in the living room." He said into his communicator.

"In the living room? What are you talking about?" Duck's voice came through the communicator.

"Just get here quick!" Ace said and all was silent. Soon the others all assembled in the living and quickly saw what the problem was. Ace was confused. The robot had not moved at all since it came inside and nether had he. He stood rooted in place, unsure of what to do. Every time he had seen this robot it had been conducting its retreat. Ace saw the others and was about to tell them to attack when he saw a crease appear down the bot's chest. The two sides of its chest slid apart to reveal a screen. They all stared with wonder and confusion at this strange site. These feeling were interrupted when the screen flicked to life and showed an image. It was fuzzy at first, but cleared up quickly. They saw a man standing in a dark area.

"Hello Loonatics." He addressed them casually "The names Nero, and I would like to have a word with you."

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**There we go. Soooooo sorry for the delay, but I've been busy. First there was a ****Marx Brothers ****movie marathon that I HAD to watch. Then there was a bunch of school stuff to do. Let me say something now. Blackmoondragon1415, Adregauls, CadillacJack, fuzzy,jam, and Shadow-Rose99, I want to thank you all for reviewing my story so much. You have been so helpful and supportive and I thank you. That being said, I know my story has had over 400 hits so I would like to hear from some others about my story. Tell you what; I haven't gotten a real negative review yet, so if you want to say something bad about my story (I know there has to be someone out there, you cant please everybody) than just tell me. Trust me, I can take it. I am completely open to criticism. Let the slings and arrows fly. Or just say you liked my story, that will work too. **


	10. The show

**Ch10: Hey. Were getting close to the end. Shadow-Rose99, CadillacJack, always nice to hear from you two. S-R99: I think it's a little too late to add in any one else's thought without it being weird and awkward, but I keep you thoughts in mind.**

**_I continue to own nothing_**

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"Uh…hello." Lexi said tentatively.

"QUIET!" Nero snapped causing Lexi to cringe a little and everybody else to tense up even more. He then appeared to calm down. "Don't talk just listen. I am here to demand your surrender." He smiled confidently. The others all looked at each other as if to say 'did he just say what I think he said?' Then Ace turned back and took a more confident stance and facial expression. _Giant robot or not, we got to make sure this guy don't think were just a bunch of pushovers. _

"I don't think we're gona do that doc." He said with a surprised and mocking tone in his voice. Nero's smile only widened.

"I was hoping you would say that." He turned away and started doing something off camera, but he continued to talk "because now I get to offer you some…incentive." As he said this last part he wheeled something covered by a white sheet into view. He grabbed the sheet but did not pull it off. He turned back to look at them and gave a smile that made all there skin crawl. Tech had a **very **bad feeling right now. This man was almost making him physically ill (you might say he was looking a little…green). Then with a great flourish, Nero removed the sheet, and there sat Rev, tied to a chair with his beak taped shut. "I assume you still recognize you teammate. I relies it has been a wile since you have seen him. Almost a week now isn't it." He turned to ask the muted Rev, who only rolled his eyes. He was intensely fed-up with this man's twisted sense of humor. "And I suppose he isn't looking so good either." This was true. Rev looked awful. He had dark circles around his eyes, and he was clearly shaking…almost violently. The terrible state of his plumage only made him look even more pathetic. His cloths were ripped and dirty (he had to refuse to let the doctor wash his cloths otherwise he would have seen Rev's battered and bruised body). These things were all obvious, but to the more astute observer (like Tech who was finding it hard to even blink) you could see and hear that his breathing was erratic and ragged. "Well, I assume your feeling more agreeable now so…"

"What did you DO to him!?" Tech said through clenched teeth. He was so furious that his fists were also clenched. He was also shaking with a combination of hate and fear. Rev looked like he might not last much longer in his current state.

"I tell you what, why don't you come over to my house and I'll tell you in person. You are to follow the scapegoat, which is the robot's name by the way, to a destination. Once there you will follow it to another point in the city. After that it will lead you to me. You have five minutes to comply other wise I will be forced to offer more…sever forms of incentive." He then held up a hammer and a large hunting knife. Lexi gasped and all the men's eyes widened. "I hope to see you soon Loonatics…and so dose Rev." With that the screen disappeared and the scapegoat stomped over to the smashed windows and jumped out. It floated up a few seconds later and hovered out side, waiting for them to follow. The super heroes all looked at each other.

"What should we do?" Duck asked. Every body looked at him as if he were crazy.

"We follow him of coarse." Was Ace's simple reply.

"What! Are you serious? This is obviously a trap. We can't just…"

"It doesn't matter!" Tech stated firmly. "We have to follow it to find Rev." Tech's voice mirrored his inner feelings. It was a strange combination of anger and fear that made it high and crack slightly. The others looked at him with sympathy as he starred down at the ground. _Poor Tech_. Lexi thought. _This must be so hard for him. After all, its obvious that he had feelings for Rev. I wish we could make him feel better…but what can we say?_

"Tech's right." Ace said just as firmly. "Rev's in danger and we wont be able to help him until we find him." They all nodded and went down to the hanger to get the jetpacks. _Why won't anyone listen to me…ever?_ Duck thought morosely._ I know Rev is in trouble and I am worried about him, but that's no reason to just throw caution to wind and follow some robot to god knows where. If __**I**__ were leader we'd be doing things much differently…not that that's likely. _He had to be realistic. A best the team didn't respect him or his opinion, and at worst they genuinely hated him. At least that was the way he saw it.

They all got on their jetpacks and flew to where the scapegoat was still hovering. It then took off in a northward route. It flew through the air completely stiff and ridged. It gained altitude so as not to hit any buildings. The Loonatics followed closely behind, or attempted to. The robot did not make it easy for them to follow. It was going in a strait line, but was traveling at an astonishing speed. They flew on for some time in a tight formation. Tech was, actually, out front instead of Ace. He was driving his jetpack to its limits. He could feel a lump forming in his throat. He chastised himself. He knew he had to be stronger that that if he wanted to save Rev.

_I'm coming Rev, and I'm going to make that man pay for hurting you._

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Once Nero had shut down the broadcasting device he walked over to Rev. _Should only take about twenty minutes or so for them to get here. Until then, there's no harm in having a little more fun with this bird. _He looked down at Rev and began to talk.

"I wonder if they are going to come for you. I'm not sure if I would. After all you are pretty much useless to their team." He grabbed another chair and sat on it backwards. He stared at Rev, drinking in his shocked and angry looks. _It's just too easy to get to this guy. _"It's fitting, don't you think, that your only 'power' is the ability to run away faster than anyone else. I don't count your GPS power because that coyote could just build a device to do that job." Nero had been constantly saying things like this all week. His verbal attacks came to be just as vicious and painful as the physical ones. They served to steadily wear away at his self-esteem and confidence. He might have been able to deal with this better if he were not isolated from his friends. The savage beatings did not help either. The worst part was that some of Nero's positions…actually made some sense (though that might also be due to his altered frame of mind). Like this one, "I still find it funny that all your friends would be able to escape from the confines your currently find your self in if they had there powers. You, however, would be if the exact same situation even if you had your powers." This was true…cruel and insensitive, but true. _**God**__ I wish he would just shut up. But maybe…he's right. Maybe I am useless._ He tried to keep these thoughts out of his mind, but it was getting harder and harder to do this. _Well at least this whole thing is almost over. I just hope we all survive it._

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The Loonatics and the scapegoat landed out side the warehouse after twenty-five minutes of flying.

"Well let's go." Tech said as he moved toward the door.

"Maybe we should try to find another way in or…" Despite Duck's suggestion everyone followed Tech's lead and went over to the door. "Oh sure. Don't listen to me **again.** Stupid Duck never knows what he is talking about. He should just be quiet and follow orders." He grumbled to himself as he jogged to catch up.

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"Well sounds like the rest of my guests have arrived." Rev perked up at hearing this. He was excited to see his friends despite the current circumstances. Nero saw this and his mood darkened and he took a much more somber tone. "Don't get to worked up. None of you will be around for much longer. Its time for the show to start." Then the door opened and in walked the Loonatics led by Tech, who almost ran to Rev the moment he saw him, but was held back when he saw Nero standing next to Rev (who was still tied down). "Welcome Loonatics. It's nice to see you all. Now I would like to ask you all to go stand over there on that 'x'." He pointed over to an x painted on the floor. When he saw that nobody moved he swiftly pulled a gun out of his coat and pressed it against Rev's head. "Pleas." He added with a sinister grin. They all moved over to toward the x, all except Tech. He stood his ground defiantly, though he did flinch when he saw the gun being put to Rev's head.

"You know I could easily get that away form you." He said with a harsh edge in his voice. Nero raised an eyebrow and looked at Tech with growing amusement.

"You could…but are you confident that you will be fast enough." He said this with chilling coolness as he cocked the gun. A tense moment passed. Nobody moved. Ace and the others stood there waiting for someone to make a move, not daring to move themselves. Tech stood there looking directly into Nero's eyes. He saw that he was not bluffing. He would kill Rev then and there…and probably enjoy it. Tech looked at Rev's desperate glassy green eyes and his heart almost broke. He sighed and moved over to the x. Once they were all standing on the x slam put a hand on Tech's shoulder to show support. Tech gave an appreciative smile, and then turned somber and serious again.

"All right. That's what I thought." Nero said confidently.

"So what now Nero?" Ace asked with his arms crossed. Nero only smiled and kicked the chair Rev was sitting in so it rolled over to where the others were. He practically ran-over Duck, but was caught by Ace and Tech. As Rev glided over to them Nero pulled out his his palm computer. Once they were all in the same area he pushed some buttons on the device and suddenly the room was filled with whirring and buzzing noises. Then a Large glass case with tubes coneccted to it was quickly lowered down over them, trapping them.

"Well that worked nicely. Just as I had planned it."

"Ok, now that we're all captured, **what are planning**?" Ace was quickly loosing his temper (which did not happen a lot).

"Well I'm going to kill you…obviosly" Nero stated this very casually.

"Would you care to…clarify?" Lexi asked. They all waited to hear the details of this clearly sinister and maniacal plan that this man had concocted. They would have to wait a few more moments as they heard the door they had entered through open and close. Every one turned to see who this new person was.

"Nero." Randal called out "Why is the scapegoat outside?" then he saw the whole picture.

"Ah good. You're right on time doctor. Now I only have to explain this once."

"Explain what?" the doctor asked as he began to feel uneasy about the situation he had just walked in on.

"Why, my plan to take over the world of coarse." He said as he crossed his arms and smiled.

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**Yes I am leaving it there. It's all about suspense you know. Review if you pleas. It would make me ever so happy.**


	11. The big bang

**Ch11: Hello for the 11****th ****time. We are so close to the end I can taste it. S-R99: You really think I got Tech'spersonality? Keeping in character has never been my strong point (in my opinion). And I never get tired of your reviews (the gushier the better). CadillacJack: I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will be answering both of those things.**

**Also, there is going to be some historical allusions in this story. I just want you all to know I thoroughly researched all the facts (because I'm a history nut) so no need to question anything. **

_**I own none of the original LU characters. **_

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"Your WHAT? Have you lost your mind? What is all this." Randal said in a very angry and agitated voice. He was glaring down his former subordinate with menace.

"Settle down doctor. I'm going to explain every thing. You see when I first started working with you…" he began to pace before his audience and make several subtle hand gestures as he talked. "I quickly realized I could go places if I stuck with you. However I decided that you were not the right kind of employer I needed to accomplish my goals. Unfortunately I could not find any other employment opportunities, so I stuck it out with you. All the time I was helping you with your '**experiments**'…" he made this word sound as ridiculous as possible to show he had no respect for the work Randal was doing. "I was planning my ascension to world dominance." Randal looked shocked and horrified. Nero only smiled. "Don't get me wrong. I thought you were doing…interesting work, but I realized that you did not have the spine to take them as far as they could go."

"It was you." He pointed a trembling finger at Nero. "Yes of coarse. How could I not have seen it? You're the reason my experiments went too far. You're the reason all my peers abandoned me. As soon as I hired you all the trouble started. Years and years of work, almost my lifetime's worth of work…ruined." He was positively seething at this point. "You were always pressuring me to take my experiments to the next level."

"Well I did goat you a little, but you proved willing to go further and further in your experiments…with the right prodding on my part. I'll admit sometimes you could be frustratingly willful." He stood a few feet away from the doctor staring at him with cold malice filled eyes.

"Why?" was what the doctor said through clenched teeth. "Why did you try to turn me into some type of…monster like you?" Nero only smiled.

"Like I said, world conquest. If you were busy worrying about the press and your 'peers' opinions about you, you would pay less attention to my own activates. Now for how I plan on taking over the world, it's quite simple actually. It all depends in him." He said this as he commanded the scapegoat to come inside the warehouse and stand behind the doctor. "It took me seven and a half years to get the final design right, but I think I did a pretty good job on it…don't you think?" He addressed the Loonatics who only looked at him with shock and anger. "Any way, all I have to do is get rid of you **heroes** and then send my robot out to steal the necessary components to make more of them, about half a dozen I was thinking. That should be all I need to take over a factory or two. Once I've done that I can begin mass-producing my creations. Eventually I'll have an unstoppable army of scapegoats to conquer this world with. It should be a piece of cake."

_Well it IS a sound plan. _Tech had to agree. He always gave credit where credit was due. _But it is still a diabolical and sinister plan that can't be aloud to take full effect._

"That's enough of an explanation I suppose. Now I will say this once. I don't really want to kill you doctor. You could be useful to me. So join me and you can be **my **subordinate."

"Are you MAD? You can't do this. I wont allow it!" Randal shouted as he marched over to stand directly in front of Nero.

Ace had to give the doctor his props. He marched right up to Nero and started chewing him out even though Nero almost dwarfed the doctor. He, Duck, and Slam had been listening intently to Nero's plan as Lexi and Tech cared for Rev. Slam had removed the restraints and the collar from Rev's body. The teary reunion would, unfortunately, have to wait. Rev insisted he was fine and stood up with help from Lexi and Tech so he could look out on the scene that was unfolding (Lexi had to keep her arm wrapped around his waist to keep him upright).

"Claudius Tiberius Nero, I am **not **going to let you do this. Pleas listen to reason. Countless millions will die if you try to go through with this." The doctor was exasperated and distraught. He had always had some feeling that Nero contained some anger and cruelty in him, but he could never have imagined he was capable of something like this.

"Oh at least a million…probably more. I really want to send a message that I am in charge and nobody can stop me. I don't want to deal with a lot of rebellions and uprisings as a ruler. A few public executions every now and then should keep the people in line I think."

"You've thought a lot about this?" Duck asked from inside the glass cell. _I thought guys like this only existed in movies and comic books. All our other enemies were bad…but he's just plain evil. He might even be worse than __Optimatus._

"Yup. This plan is twenty years in the making. I had to make some changes to is once you came along, of coarse, but it didn't really matter did it?" The look of smugness on his face made all the Loonaticsfeel sick and angry. To think anyone could be this nonchalant about killing millions of people in a war of conquest was astounding. "So doctor I'll take it that you will not join me?"

"No I will not." He stated firmly. Nero only shrugged with the confident, self-righteous grin on his face.

"Have it your way." He quickly punched in some keys on his palm computer and the scapegoat lurched into action. He swiftly grabbed the doctor by his waist and threw him against the far wall into a heap of scrap metal.

"NO! NO! No." Rev cried out. He did not want the doctor to die. _He was not a criminal. He did not deserve that._ He sunk to his knees as tears started to roll down his face. Tech looked down and saw Rev crying. It hurt him just as much as seeing him in any other kind of pain. _Just another reason to get back at this guy _he thought as he turned back to look at Nero with hate-filled eyes.

"Why are you getting so worked up?" Nero chuckled as he asked the sobbing Rev. "He kidnapped you remember."

"**You** were the one who kidnapped him." Tech went out on a limb and started making some educated guesses. "And it was **you** who gave him the idea in the first place." Nero nodded and contained his humor.

"You got me there, but to be fair he still could have refused. I just added fuel to the fire so to speak."

"That doesn't matter now." Ace said as he tried to get control of the situation. "We're gona stop this guy no matter what. Slam, get us out of this thing." Slam nodded and moved over to one of the walls to smash it. He wound up and punched the glass wall.

"That's not going to work." Nero smirked, and indeed it did not work. Slam's fist bounced off the wall and he started whimpering with pain as he pulled it to his chest. _What the? _Ace thought. He then tried to use his eye lasers but found he could not.

"My powers aren't working." Ace said.

"Mine aren't either." Lexi agreed.

"But how is that possible." Tech said as he also tried to use his own powers to no avail.

"Why not ask Rev. I bet he can tell you." Rev finally pulled himself together enough to stand again and partake in the situation.

"It must be the Curium-N. It's an isotope of elemental curium that can temporarily take away our powers."

"Yes that's what is going on. You are not, however, fully acquainted with all of Curium-N's properties. Through my own research I have discovered that when you convert it to a gaseous form, it becomes highly toxic."

"Wait, when you do what it becomes what?" Duck always hated having to ask about what all the scientific and technical jargon.

"It means when you make it into a gas it can kill you." Tech clarified. He was feeling more than a little nervous now. _This man may be a malicious, coldhearted, psycho…but he is clever. _

"Yes, and witha push of this button that chamber will be filled with the toxic gas using those pipes in the ceiling. The gas basically causes your lungs to rupture and collapse. A process that is, I assume, very painful…in case you wanted to know." Duck visibly paled at hearing this. _Some times it's just not worth being a superhero. _

"WHAT. I'm to important to die!" he waved his arms around as he panicked. "We have to get out of here." He began banging on the wall with no effect.

"Duck…Duck…DUCK!" Lexi shouted and he looked at her. "Why don't we try the door?" And there was a door right in front of them (nobody had noticed this with all the excitement).

"Nice try, but the only way that door will open is if I push this button." He held up the computer and pointed to the button.

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Meanwhile several feet away…

_Oh wow…that hurt. _Randal slowly regained consciousness and began to stir. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked and saw a large metal shard sticking out of his side. "My that's not good." He said quietly. Then he heard Nero talking. He was just in time to hear 'lungs to rupture and collapse'. He was again filled with anger. _I can't let this happen. I have to stop him. _He struggled up to his feet and was surprised to see that Nero had yet to notice him. That was why he was able to see him point to which button would open the door to the cell. He made up his mind of what he was going to do. He stumbled over to a table and picked up the hunting knife that Nero had used to threaten the Loonatics during there televised conversation. He also had the clever idea to remove his shoes to reduce the amount of noise he was making. This all went unnoticed to everybody…except one person.

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Tech looked on with growing horror as his mind worked feverishly to find a solution. _It's no use. There is nothing I or anybody else can do. If only I had grabbed something from my lab…well something helpful. _He had been in such a hurry to leave he had only brought along his 'Tech E. Coyote Total Sensory Overpowering and Non-lethal Incapacitating Grenade' or TSONIG for short (that was the best name Tech had come up with for his 'flash-bang' device). _This would probably not do anything other than annoy him _he thought as he felt the pouch it was stored in. Then he saw the doctor and he got an idea.

"Any way, I think it's about time I go ahead…"

"So your full name is Claudius Tiberius Nero, that makes **a** **lot **of sense." He hopped this ploy would work. _If I can stall him long enough we might just get out of this…providing the doctor makes it to him._

Nero looked at Tech with genuine amusement. "And what makes you say that?"

_Yes_. "Well if you think about it it's very…interesting. For example, each one of those names was the name of a Roman emperor. Claudius was a good enough leader, by the Julio-Claudian dynasty standards. Tiberius may have been a successful general but he really was not up to the task of being the ruler of the worlds largest empire at the time. And Nero was, to put is bluntly, completely insane and absolutely incompetent, and that is, of coarse, the name you choose to go by. That is definitely fitting."

"Did Tech just insult him? I cant tell." Duck whispered to Slam who just shrugged.

"Now I am impressed. I knew you were well read in scientific and technological things, but now I find you're also a history buff."

"I get by." Tech said confidently, but his hand was twitching nervously over the pouch that held his TSONIG and had his other hand on the door. The others saw what was happening and decided just let Tech take care of it for now. He was doing a good job so far.

"I have to disagree with you on some things." Randal edged closer and closer to Nero's backside (he was going a little to slow for every ones taste). "Claudius was a feeble weakling. Being popular doesn't make you a good leader. Tiberius was a great general and really should have stayed in that profession I agreewith you there. Nero, on the other hand, knew what had to be done to rule his nation effectively…" and he continued on like this.

_Come on. Come on!_ Tech was like a coiled spring waiting for his chance to get at this man.

Then the moment finally came. Randal came within reach and plunged his knife into Nero's lower back. He howled at this and stumbled forward onto the floor with the doctor landing on top of him. The computer slid forward and the doctor crawled after it. Unfortunately Nero was able to recover quickly and pull the knife out. He lunged after the doctor and grabbed his leg and pulled him back toward him. Luckily Randal was able to grab the computer and press the 'door release' button. The door clicked open and Tech pushed it open.

Nero had positioned himself over Randal and was about to stab him in the heart when Tech took out his device activated it, threw it at the two on the floor, and turned away and covered his ears. The TSONIG worked perfectly…unfortunately Nero was still able to stab Randal in the stomach instead of his intended target. Tech was the only one who was mildly unaffected by the device so he ran forward and tackled Nero off of the doctor.

Nero proved to be a very resilient adversary. He was able to recover, not only, from the knife wound in his back and the effects of the TSONIG, but also the tackle. Enough so that he was able to get to his feet and over power the coyote. He grabbed him by the throat and began choking him.

"Nice try." He said through clenched teeth as he squeezed his neck tightly, "But I've worked to long and to hard to be stopped by you or your friends."

Rev was the first person in the Loonatics to recover enough to get out of the cell and to know that Tech was in trouble. He still could not see with his eyes so he used his GPS to find him. He regained enough of his sight to see what was happening and he quickly formulated a plan, maybe not a good one, but he was in a hurry. He ran to the other end of the warehouse and then ran into Nero from behind, again knocking him down.

"Who's…weak…now?" Rev huffed (after all he was still in bad shape). He was feeling very confident right now. These feelings were cut short as he saw Nero land next to Randal and grab the computer from his hand.

"Still you." He spat out as he punched in some keys on his computer. "I would like to kill you myself…but I'm tired of playing with you and your friends…so I'll let him do it" Then the scapegoat started to move, but something was wrong. It's arms jerked around erratically and sparks flew from it's head.

"Well I guess my invention worked." Tech crocked out as he rubbed his neck and watched the strange spectacle. Then something completely unexpected happened. The scapegoat blew up and sent it's arm flying off like a rocket. This ended up impaled Nero, pinning him to a wall. "Maybe too well." Tech added with a little horror…but he got over it.

Nero looked down at his stomach with a blank look on his face. He sighed and coughed up some blood. "That's just great…all that work…for nothing." he struggled to work out his sentence. Tech and Rev tentatively walked over to him.

"I have to admit Nero, you had a good plan. Your smarter than you look." Tech felt the need to try and rub it in as much as possible, to get the last laugh. Nero only looked at Tech with barely contained rage.

"Yea…thanks. 'Hark, now strikes on my ear the trampling of swift-footed coursers.'" he quoted the last words of his name sake. His head sank down and his chin rested on his chest. Rev and Tech walked looked away from this sight.

"Tech, Rev, come over here. It's the doctor." Lexi said as she crouch down next to him on the floor. At hearing this Rev speeded over next to him.

"Wait-what-he's-still-alive? He got-stabbed-twice-and-thrown-against-a wall-and-"

"Settle down Rev." Ace said in a calming voice. "Tech…is he…going to make it?"

"No...I am not." Randal suddenly said. "Did you stop him?" He addressed this question to Rev. He saw Rev nod and sighed with relief. "Well at least I don't have to worry about that anymore. I can die in peace."

"And die you will doctor!" suddenly a familiar voice called out. "All of you will." Nero shouted.

"Would you just give it up." Duck said angrily.

"Not…untill…your all…**dead**!" as he said this he used the last of his strength to type in one more command into his computer before letting it fall to the floor and dying. Then a loud computerized voice said...

**Self destruct activated. Compound will ****detonate**** in 30…29…28…27…**

Tech ran over and tried to reverse the comand on the computer.

"It no use. It broke when it hit the ground."

"Then I think we should get out of here…**now**." Duck said as he inched his way to the door.

"Right. Let's go." Ace said._ They listened to what I said? Its about time _Duck thought proudly.

"But-we-can't-just-leave-Randal-here!" Rev was getting hysterical and very emotional.

"No Rev…go, but first pleas do something for me…" Randal said then paused as he heard the count-down.

**21…20…19…18…**

"…and you should probably hurry. If you go into my office there is a beige file cabinet. In the last drawer there is a green binder. That contains all my research, findings, expariments…every thing. Please Rev…I'm going to die here…don't let my life'swork die with me."

"Ok-you-guys-get-out-of-here-and-I'll-catch-up." Rev said and before anyone could object he zipped off to find the binder.

"Ok, come on. It's time to get outa Doge." Ace commanded and they all ran to the door (though Tech was **very **reluctant to do so).

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Rev speed around the office looking for the cabinet that Randal had indicated. He finally found it and opend it up. He was surprised at how big it the binder was but lifted it out. He Ran out and was about to leav...but had to say good-bye to Randal. He ran over and crouched down next to him.

"I got it." He said slowly. His voice was heavy with emotion...mostly sadness that his new friend was going to die there. He was almost in tears again. Randal's eyes fluttered open and focused on him. He smiled at him.

"Thank you Rev." he said quietly.

"I could still get you out of here you know."

"No…this is all a…monster like me deserves."

"Randal…you are anything but a monster. Your just a good man who made some mistakes." Rev tried to reassure him. Randal's eyes lit up and his smile broadened.

"Well…if you say so. Thank you Rev and…I'm sorry."

**10…9…8…7…**

"Now get out of here. Your too important to this city…and to your friends…to die in this place." He may not have known it, but that was the best thing that he could have said to Rev.

Then with one last exhale, Randal Thaddeus Watruba III, scientist, doctor, researcher, the man who dedicated his life to obtaining knowledge, died. Rev put his head down and let one single tear fall to the floor.

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The others waited out side nervously. They were a safe distance away from the building but Rev had still not gotten out yet, and time was running out.

**6…5…4…**

_Come on Rev. Get out of there now, _Tech thought. He was immensely scared of losing Rev for such a stupid cause.

**3…2…1…0**

Then the massive resulting explosion rocked the ground they stood on. Every one covered their faces to protect themselves from the flying debris. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left to the warehouse but a large black scorch mark on the ground. _That was some explosion. I guess Nero wanted to be able to thoroughly destroy that place, _were Duck's thoughts. They all waited in tense silence, staring at where the building once stood. Seconds ticked by and Tech's heart started to sink.

"Rev." he breathed out quietly as he looked down at the ground and his ears lowered. He was on the verge of collapsing with grief when suddenly he heard some heavy breathing coming form behind him. "What?" was the next thing he heard and his ears pricked back up. He whipped around and saw Rev sanding behind him panting.

"Man…am-I-out-of-shape…I'm-going-to-have-to-do-some-serious-working-out-to-get-back-to-normal." Rev had the binder in his hands and was bent over trying to catch his breath.

Tech and all the others sighed with relief.

"Jeez Rev, could you have cut it a little closer?" Duck asked with his arms crossed. Rev normally would have said something back but he just didn't feel like it at the moment (he also knew this was Duck's way of saying 'I'm glad your not dead').

"How about we all just go home and talk about this." Lexi suggested.

"Yeah-that-sounds-good-to-me."

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**There we go, but wait there is one more chapter so look out, right. R&R all of you, thanks.**


	12. The examination

**CH12: Acolytes: I will be eagerly awaiting your 'official' review. S-R99: Well I'm glad that you continue to like my story, but now you made me nervous. I hope my ending will live up to your expectations (and no I am not 'the' best…yet) Well lets got it done.**

**By the way, I apologize for the last chapter having a lot more errors than usual. This is because a) it was very long and b) I stayed up till 2:30am to finish it, so I was tired and VERY hungry (I had to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich+ a bagel dipped in peanut butter as soon as I was done). Also I wanted to ask if you liked how I killed Nero in the last chapter. I wasn't 100% sure how to do it and I thought that it fit.**

**Sorry one more thing. This chapter may or may not contain some slight, SLIGHT, slash-like scenes. Nothing real substantial but I should mention it.**

_**Do I really have to say anything here**_

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The team arrived back at the tower and the first thing Rev wanted was a shower. While he was doing that Tech took the liberty of looking through the doctor's binder to see if there was anything useful or insightful in it.

Once Rev was done with his shower he went to his room and saw himself in the mirror with his shirt off. He could not help but cringe at the sight. _Wow do I look __**bad**__. I can't let anyone see me like this…especially not Tech. I don't know what he would do, but it would not be good. _He quickly put on a uniform he had in his closet and went to the living room to see the others. As he walked in he was a little surprised to see a big hole in the far wall.

"Boy-you-guys-really-let-the-place-go-did-I-miss-a-party-or-something?" Ace and the others smiled for a moment. They were all happy to see their friend again and were glad to see this ordeal had not affected him…as far as they could tell.

"That was were Nero's robot made it's grand entrance." Lexi replied.

"Now that you mention it, we should probably clean up all that broken glass before someone gets hurt." Ace said as he looked at the thousands of razor shard shards on their carpet.

"I-got-it!" Rev suddenly said and he dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the broom and dustpan. In a flash he was back and cleaning up the mess at lightning speed.

"Well its nice to have you back Rev." Ace said as he saw Rev had done the job in less than a minuet and a half.

"Yup, just means less work for the rest of us." Duck said as he was lying on the couch relaxing. Lexi proceeded to glare at him and Slam grumbled some kind of half-hearted threat at the inconsiderate mallard.

"Don't listen to Duck. Were glad to have you back because we missed you, **right?**" She continued to stare at Duck who just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah sure, **that's** what I meant to say." He said in a sarcastic tone. Rev saw Lexi was about to yell at him again so he just waved off his remarks.

"It's-all-right-Lexi-I-don't-mind-I-just-like-being-helpful-you-know." He quickly zipped over next to her and whispered, "I-never-listen-to-him-any-way." Lexi and Slam snickered and Duck sat up on the couch.

"Hey I heard that!"

"So?" was Rev's simple reply as he smiled at the agitated foul.

"Your despicable." Duck muttered as he crossed his arms and sat back on the couch. _Everything's right back to normal…great _he thought sourly.

Ace had seen this playful exchange and had decided to stay out of it. He was just glad to see things getting back to normal. Then he remembered that there was another member of his team that he had not heard from in some time. He turned around and saw Tech sitting at a small table pouring over the contents of the binder.

"Hey Tech…" he said as he moved over and got his attention. "Have you found anything?"

"Well I have found some very…interesting things." Tech replied while continuing to read the papers scattered all over the table. At hearing this Rev suddenly remembered the binder and ran over next to Tech.

"Yeah-Tech-what-did-you-find-in-here-anything-important?"

"That depends on your definition of 'important'. There is a lot of information in here and I have only just scratched the surface. I have found out that in his yearly college years Randal was planning on becoming a chemist, and he was actually about to graduate. The thesis project he was working on was very intriguing. He was, apparently, developing a special enzyme that, when introduced into the body, would be so efficient in it's catalyzing effect, it could possibly make the human body completely self-sufficient." Tech looked up and saw that Ace, Lexi, Slam, and Duck had the 'deer caught in headlights' look. He started to think of a simpler way of explaining but Rev was there to do it for him.

"Enzymes-act-as-catalyzing-substances-in-the-human-body-like-proteins." He saw that they were still confused. "A-catalyst-is-a-substance-that-causes-or-accelerates-a-chemical-reaction-without-itself-being-affected-didn't-you-take-highschool-chemistry?" He asked his friends who looked like they were in a daze from being bombarded by all this scientific talk.

"Uh…science was never my best subject." Lexi said and Slam garbled something in agreement.

"It-would-basically-mean-you-would-not-have-to-eat-and-you-would-only-have-to-sleep-a-few-hours-a-week."

"Why couldn't you just say that?" Duck asked Tech.

"I thought I did. Anyway, what is strange is even though he was about to graduate college and was making impressive headway in his experiments, according to these papers he switched his major to psychology, essentially starting his schooling over and delaying his career."

"I-know-why." Rev said and he suddenly felt himself sadden. "He-told-me-that-he-switched-to-psychology-when-his-father-and-little-brother-were-killed-in-a-bank-robbery." He felt a little uncomfortable talking about it, but he did not really know why. Tech looked thoughtful for a moment then rummaged around the pile of papers.

"Ah yes…here is the obituary." He held up a newspaper clipping. _I suppose that would do it_. "What else I found interesting was how divers and extensive the doctors level of research was." Tech did not want to dwell on the subject any longer than was necessary

"He-said-he-studied-many-different-subjects." Rev said.

"He was not lying that's for sure. He has notes, hypotheses, references, questions, and suggested reading for subjects ranging from biology to astrology to botany to geology. At any rate, it will take some time to thoroughly go through all this information."

"How-long-will-that-take?" Rev asked eagerly. He wanted to know more about Randal. He had spent a lot of time talking to him, but he still felt there was more he could learn.

"It should only take a day or two." He turned to look at Rev to answer his question. When he did so, it was like he was seeing Rev for the first time in a long time…and he did not like what he saw. Rev still looked **very **unhealthy (after all it he had only been home for an hour or so). "Rev, are feeling alright? You don't look very well." Tech asked with concern.

_Shoot. I was hoping he would not notice…but nothing gets past Tech E. Coyote I suppose._

"I was just thinking of asking that." Ace said as he appraised is teammate more closely. In his form-fitting uniform Ace could see that Rev had lost a lot of weight (that was lost from his already svelte physic), so much that his ribs were clearly visible. He was also still looking a little shaky and unstable.

"I'm-fine-guys-really." He said as he gave a wide (and obviously fake) smile. Rev really was not feeling well, but he tried to shrug off their concerns anyway. He did not want to worry them over nothing. He was hoping to simply recover from any damage he might have received in private. His body, it would seem, had other plans as he began to cough violently and began to feel light headed. He swayed forward but before he could fall over completely Tech grabbed his shoulders to help steady him.

"I should probably run an examination to check."

"I-don't-think-that's-necessary-I…" Rev still tried to worm his way out of the spot-light but now he had the sharp scrutinizing eyes of Ace and Tech completely on him.

"That's enough Rev." Ace said sternly. "Go get the examination." Rev knew it was useless to resist anymore so he just nodded and let Tech lead him away to the medical ward.

"I wonder why he tried to convince us he was fine when he clearly wasn't." Lexi asked.

"He probably didn't want us to worry about him." Ace answered.

"He doesn't have to worry about that from me." Duck said and everybody began staring at him. He suddenly got very uncomfortable and sunk down in the couch. Then every body left and he found himself alone.

"What'd I say?" he called out but there was no answer. "What ever. They need to learn to take a joke."

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Rev was sitting on the metal examination table while Tech was setting up. Rev was drumming his fingers on the table with nervous energy.

"Ok Rev, go over there behind that screen and take off your clothes." Tech said in a very business like tone. He was not a doctor of medicine, but he was still the most qualified person on the team to serve the role. Rev's breath caught in his throat and he hesitated. When Tech did not hear any movement he turned around and saw Rev sitting on the table looking very tense. "Well?" he asked. _There is obviously something wrong so why won't he just tell me?_ When he saw Rev still did not move he sighed and said, "Just take the top section of your uniform off then." At this Rev finally had to comply and so he slowly did as he was told. Tech turned around with a stethoscope ready in his hand. Then he saw Rev's chest and he dropped it to the floor.

"Rev…wha…what happened? What is this?" He stared at Rev's heavily bruised and battered chest then looked up and made eye contact with him, but Rev quickly averted his gaze away. Then Tech started to get a little angry. "Rev, what happened to your chest?" he said slowly as he stepped closer to Rev.

"When…I was in…'captivity'…Nero…he uh…" Rev said slowly. He was twitching and stared down at the floor. He did not want to finish the explanation because he knew it would just upset Tech, but he did not have to finish. Tech had figured it out for him self.

"He hit you...a lot " Tech finished for him. His voice perfectly mirrored his feelings…anger and hate. Rev could only nod. "Why that…that…evil, dirty…" Tech was about to go ballistic but was stopped when he felt two hands on his shoulders.

"It doesn't matter now." Rev tried to calm his friend. Tech looked again into Rev's eyes and he felt the fire inside him quench. He sighed heavily.

"Yes…what's done is done…but I still have to examine you to make sure there is no permanent damage."

Rev nodded again and brought his hands back by his sides. As he did this though, his hands lightly slid down Tech's chest. This small amount of contact sent a chill down Tech's spine that made him shudder slightly. He was more than a little surprised by this, but shook it off and picked up the stethoscope he had dropped.

He started by taking Rev's pulse. He saw it was mildly elevated. _It's probably just the stress of the situation_, Tech thought to himself. He then used the stethoscope and instructed Rev to take several deep breaths. "Do you feel any pain when you're breathing?"

"Not really. I'm kinda sore and my chest is a little…tender." Rev answered. He was feeling strangely warm at the moment and he didn't know why. Then he realized that Tech was still staring at his bare chest with a strange glint in his eyes. "What?" he asked as he readjusted himself on the table.

Tech snapped out of the trace he was in and said, "I was just thinking…that I should feel around you're chest…to check and see if any damage has been done to your ribs." He explained this as if he were distracted by something.

"Well ok…but be careful." Rev said as he put his hands behind him on the table and leaned back, resting on them and presenting his chest.

"Yes of coarse. I'll be gentle." Tech rubbed his hands together nervously and felt they were becoming clammy **(A/N: can you have clammy hands with fur? I say yes…for the purposes of this fic). **He slowly reached out and saw his hands were also shaking slightly. _Why am I so nervous all a sudden, _he couldn't help but wonder. _Its just Rev after all, sitting there…without his shirt…and I'm just about to…inspect him… his chest I mean._ He took a deep breath to steady himself. Then it caught in his throat when his hands made contact with Rev's flesh. _My…his feathers are…soft, _he couldn't help but notice. He slowly made his way from one side of his chest to the other. "Tell me if you feel any stabbing pains," he said as began applying light pressure to certain areas.

Rev felt a little discomfort but it was overshadowed by a strange…pleasurable sensation that was coming from Tech's touch. He let his eyes close and his head sink back. Tech did not like how thin Rev was. It was nothing to serious and he still had defined muscles on his chest…and arms, but he was still thinner than he should have been. Then both Rev and Tech seemed to notice at the same time that Tech's hands had began to probe less and were simply wandering over his chest. They looked at each other for a moment then Tech removed his hands from Rev's chest and began rubbing them together again.

"Well…I uh…didn't detect any damage." Tech said in a shaky voice. "Your sure you didn't feel any pain?"

"Pain? Uh nope…no pain." Rev said slowly as he tried to clear his head.

"Good…good. Then I uh…I think I'm, or we're done." Tech was having a little trouble forming sentences. Tech was preparing to leave when he suddenly remembered something he had wanted to say to Rev ever since he left, and he thought now was a good enough time to do so. "Rev. I…I wanted to say…I wanted to apologize for what I said…in my lab…the day you left." He seemed hesitant and a little embarrassed. Rev couldn't help but find it funny. _He's so cute when he's embarrassed._ He thought briefly of making a big deal out of it for his own amusement, but decide against it. _He feels bad enough as it is. _

"Oh-yeah-I-had-almost-forgotten-about that-it's-alright-You-were-stressed-and-I-was-bothering-you."

"No. I should not have yelled at you like that…no matter how I was feeling." Tech was genuinely ashamed about what had happened. Again Rev was very amassed by this.

"Well-your-invention-ended-up-working-like-a-charm-so-I-guess-it-all-worked-out." Tech suddenly looked even more sheepish than before.

"It only worked because I followed your advice to use a more traditional design." Rev's smile only widened after hearing this.

_Well now I __**have**__ to rub it in, _he thought. "Then-I-guess-that-means-you-owe-me-one." Tech looked up and smiled a little too.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He then moved over toward the door after he said this.

Rev got up and was about to leave when a thought crossed his mind. He was not sure if he should ask the question he was thinking but before he knew what he was doing he heard himself say, "Tech…can I ask you a question?" Tech turned around and looked at him for a moment.

"Yes. Go ahead."

_Well no going back now, _Rev thought. "Do…do you think I'm…useless?" He looked up and saw the confused look on Tech's face. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "I-only-ask-because-Nero-that-big-jerk-was-picking-on-me-a lot-and-I-know-he-was-just-trying-to-get-to-me-but-some-of-the-stuff-he-said-kinda-made-sense-like-how-he-said-my-speed-was-only-good-for-running-away-and-how-my-GPS-powers-didn't-count-because-you-could-just-make-a-device-to-do-that-and-he-said-that-I-didn't-really-contribute-anything-to-the-team-and-that-I-I-I-didn't-matter-and-I-wasn't-important-or-". He felt tears start to form in his eyes as he listed off all of his supposed inadequacies, but before he go any further he felt the familiar sensation of someone holding his beak shut. Then he felt his head being turned so he was looking directly at Tech.

"Rev…don't **ever** let anyone say you're not important. Whenever someone says that, you just remember this…you are the most important person in the world to me. Remember that." They both stood looking at each other in silence. Now Rev could feel his eyes tearing, not from hurt, but from gratitude and happiness.

Tech let go of his beak and when he did Rev threw his arms around the coyote and gave him a tight hug (he ignored the protests from his chest to do this). Tech was caught of guard but returned it warmly. "Thank you Tech." Rev said almost in a whisper. "Your welcome." He said back. Just then the calm and touching (not to mention pleasurable) atmosphere was shattered as they heard the tower alarm go off, signifying there was trouble. Reluctantly the two broke apart but continued to look at each other.

"Do you feel well enough to come along?" Tech asked.

"You-bet-would-not-miss-it-for-the-world." Rev said smiling as he wiped his eyes.

Tech moved toward the door, but stopped, looked back and said, "Then you should probably…cover up." He said with a sly grin. Rev suddenly looked embarrassed when he saw his chest was still bare.

"Oh right. You-go-I'll-catch-up." And so Tech moved out into the hall and began to walk to the COM room.

_Stupid alarm. Always interrupts me when I'm just starting to enjoy myself, _he thought as he strolled along in no big hurry. Then he felt a gush of air and saw Rev walking next to him. He suddenly got the overpowering erg to put his arm around Rev's shoulders. He did so without any complaints from Rev.

And so they walked off to face whatever new crises was going on. It didn't matter what it was…as long as they faced it together.

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**Tada, she is done. I hope none of you readers are lactose-intolerant otherwise you might have an allergic reaction to my cheesy ending. Endings have never been my strong point, but I think I did ok. Heavy on the romance I know, but that was the way I planned it (more or less). Now I tell you all a secrete. This was just a 'getting to know you' type of story. Its not real deep or complicated (by my standards) and its not the best I can do (though I am still proud of it). I'd give it a C+ myself (but I'd also like to hear your opinion). Any way that's the end…but fear not "For I Shall Return" (hopefully).**

**I also encourage you to keep reviewing. I GREATLY enjoy reading them.**


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